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y 


THE     STANDARD     BIBLE     COMMENTARY 

Thessalonians, 

Corinthians,  Galatians 

and  Romans 


y  By 

J.   W.   McGARVEY,  LL.D.,   and 
PHILIP  Y.  PENDLETON,  A.M. 


CINCINNATI 

THE  STANDARD  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Copyright,  1916 
The  Standard  Publishing  Company 


INTRODUCTION 

In  presenting  this  third  volume  of  The  Standard 
Bible  Commentary  to  the  pubHc  we  feel  that  little 
need  be  said  by  way  of  introduction. 

The  same  painstaking  care  and  laborious  research 
which  were  given  to  The  Fourfold  Gospel  have  also 
been  used  in  preparing  this  volume.  It  is  true  nearly 
double  the  number  of  volumes  were  consulted  in  pre- 
paring the  former  work,  but  numbers  do  not  tell  the 
whole  story.  The  text  of  Paul's  Epistles  presents  such 
a  wilderness  of  exegetical  difficulties  that  the  Gospels 
seem  a  smooth  and  well-worked  road  in  comparison. 
Moreover,  the  difficulties  of  the  text  are  always  re- 
flected in  the  comments  thereon,  and  therefore  the 
comments  on  Paul's  writings  are  longer  and  more 
intricate  than  those  employed  in  expounding  the 
Gospels. 

Again,  it  should  be  noted  that  while  the  original 
element  in  The  Fourfold  Gospel  is  large,  that  of 
this  work  is,  of  necessity,  very  much  larger,  for  it  was 
a  common  occurrence  to  find  no  satisfactory  explana- 
tion, even  after  every  available  authority  had  been 
consulted,  thus  compelling  original  work.  We  have 
tt-ied  never  to  dodge,  but  always  to  explain,  and  the 
public  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  our  publishers  who 
made  the  financial  sacrifice  which  permitted  us  to  take 
the  time  needful  for  such  carefulness. 

If  the  exegetical  scholar  finds  his  trained  and 
sensitive  ear  offended  by  a  roundabout  rhetoric  which 
uses  many  simple  words  where  a  single  technical 
term  would  have  better  satisfied  him,  we  beseech  him 
to  remember  that  this  series  of  commentaries  is  writ- 
ten for  Sunday-school  workers.  It  is  therefore  void  of 
all  rhetorical  ambitions,  not  to  say  vanities,  and  seeks 
only  to  be  plain  and  practical — a  simple  exposition 
for  busy  people.     Over  thirty  years  ago  Russell  Errett 


iv  INTRODUCTION 

directed  our  attention  to  the  need  of  such  a  com- 
mentary, so  we  gratefully  acknowledge  that  the  idea 
did  not  originate  with  us. 

Numberless  kind  words  and  commendations  which 
appeared  in  the  press,  and  which  came  to  us  by  mail, 
have  encouraged  us  greatly,  though  we  have  been  too 
busy  to  acknowledge  them. 

It  is  our  hope  that  this  volume  may  be  as  helpful 
as  the  others  seem  to  have  been. 

Philip  Y.  Pendleton. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE. 
FIRST   EPISTLE   TO    THE   THESSALONIANS 
Introduction 1 

PART   FIRST. 

Personal  Rel^^tions,  Affectionate  Desires  and  Prayers. 

I.  Salutation   and   Thanks    for   the   Faith   of   the   Thes- 

salonians    3 

II.  How  the  Word  was  Preached  and  How  Received 7 

III.  Reasons  for  Sending  Timothy,  and  Joy  over  the  Re- 
port He  Brought 11 

PART   SECOND. 

Exhortations,  Instruction  as  to  the  Lord's  Coming,  Final 
Exhortations,  Prayer  and  Benediction, 

*l.  Sundry  Exhortations    15 

II.  The  Resurrection  and  the  Lord's  Coming 19 

III.  Closing  Admonitions,  Prayer  and  Benediction 24 

SECOND    EPISTLE   TO    THE   THESSALONIANS 

Introduction  28 

I.  Thanksgiving  and  Prayer  for  the  Church — God's  Im- 
partial Judgment    30 

II.  The  Coming  of  Christ  and  of  Antichrist 33 

III.  Thanksgiving,  Prayer,  Exhortation  and  Benediction ...  43 

FIRST   EPISTLE   TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 
Introduction  48 

PART   FIRST. 

Apostolic  Relations,  and  Assertions  of  Authority. 

I.  Greeting,  Thanksgiving,  Reproof  of  Divisions,  Vanity 

of  Philosophy  50 

V 


vi  CONTENTS 

PAGE. 

II.  The  Gospel  versus  Philosophy 58 

III.  Supremacy  of  God  and  the  Church 62 

IV.  Apostolic  Stewardship  and  Authority 67 

PART   SECOND. 
Apostolic  Responses  and  Conclusions. 

I.  Response  to  Report  of  Incest 71 

II.  Response  to  Rumors  of  Litigation,  etc 74 

III.  Response  as  to  Marriage 78 

IV.  Fourth  Response — Concerning  Idolatrous  Meat 85 

V.  Fifth  Response — As  to  His  Apostolicity 88 

VI.  Renewal  of  Response  concerning  Idolatrous  Meat 97 

VII.  Sixth  Response — Concerning  Head  Costume 108 

VIII.  Seventh  Response — As  to  the  Lord's  Supper 114 

IX.  Eighth  Response — As  to  Spiritual  Gifts 119 

X.  As  to  the  Supremacy  of  Love 127 

XL  Spiritual   Gifts    Concluded 133 

XII.  Ninth  Response — As  to  the  Resurrection 145 

XIII.  Concerning  the  Collection,  Personal  Matters,  Saluta- 
tions and  Benediction  160 


SECOND    EPISTLE   TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

Introduction  167 

PART   FIRST. 

Paul's  Maintenance  of  his  Apostleship. 

I.  Thanks  for  Comfort — Defense  as  to  Change  of  Plans. .  169 
II.  Explanation  as  to  Change  of  Plans — As  to  the  Inces- 
tuous Person — A  Pean  of  Joy 176 

III.  Apostleship  above  Human  Commendation,  and  the  Min- 

istry of  Moses 181 

IV.  The  Hope  of  Future  Glory  Sustains  in  Present  Trials..   187 
V.  Reconciliation,  and  the  Ministry  of  Reconciliation 194 

VI.  Introduction  to  a  Warning,  and  the  Warning 199 

VII.  An  Appeal  to  be  Accepted 204 


CONTENTS  vii 

PART    SECOND.  page. 

Concerning  the  Collection  for  the  Jerusalem  Church. 

I.  The  Collecfion  and  the  Messengers  in  Charge  of  it 210 

II.  Exhortation  to  Have  His  Boasting  Sustained 215 

PART    THIRD. 

Paul  Measures  or  Compares  Himself  with  His  Chief 
Opposers  or  Other  Detractors. 

I.  Foes,  Weapons  and  Measurements 220 

II.  Apology  for  Self-condemnation,  Denial  of  Charges  and 

Laying  of  Counter  Charges 225 

III.  A  Comparison  of  Labor,  Signs,  etc 229 

IV.  The  Third  Visit— Conclusion 237 

EPISTLE   TO    THE    GALATIANS 

Introduction 245 

PART   FIRST. 

Arguments  Sustaining  Paul's  Gospel  and  Apostolic 
Office. 

I.  Paul's  Gospel  and  Apostleship  Divinely  Derived 248 

II.  Paul's    Gospel    Apostolically    Approved — His    Equality 

with  Peter   256 

PART    SECOND. 

Bible  Teaching  as  to  Faith. 

I.  Justification  by  Faith  in  Christ  Biblically  Vindicated..  264 
II.  Childhood  and  Manhood— Sarah  and  Hagar 271 

PART   THIRD. 

Exhortations  to  Steadfastness  in  Freedom  and  to 
Faithfulness. 

I.  Exhortation  to  IMaintain  Freedom  without  License,  and 

to  Abstain  from  Legalism 279 

II.  Exhortations  to  Mutual  Helpfulness — Right  and  Wrong 

Glorying    284 


viii  CONTENTS 

EPISTLE   TO    THE   ROMANS                 page. 
Introduction  289 

PART   FIRST. 

Doctrinal:  The  Universal  Need  of  Righteousness 
Satisfied  by  the  Gospel. 

Subdivision  A. 

I.  Salutation  and  Personal  Explanations 295 

11.  Righteousness  by  the  Gospel 301 

Subdivision  B. 

I.  Need  of  Righteousness  by  the  Gentiles 302 

II.  Need  of  Righteousness  by  the  Jews 307 

III.  Jewish  Privilege  Does  Not  Diminish  Guilt — Scriptures 

Include  both  Jew  and  Gentile  Alike  under  Sin 316 

Subdivision  C. 

I.  Neither    Jew    nor    Greek    Can    Obtain    Righteousness 

otherwise  than  by  the  Gospel 320 

II.  The  Gospel  Method  of  Justification  must  be  Applied 

both  to  the  Literal  and  Spiritual  Seed  of  Abraham. .  324 

Subdivision  D. 

I.  Results  of  the  Justification  Wrought  by  Christ;  viz., 

Peace,  Hope,  Love  and  Reconciliation 330 

11.  Adam,    the    Trespasser   unto    Death,    Contrasted   with 

Christ,  the  Righteous  unto  Life 2>ZZ 

Subdiznsion  E. 

I.  Justification  Brought  about  by  Such  Relation  to  Christ 
as  Creates  Obligation  to  be  Dead  to  Sin  and  Alive 

to  Righteousness 341 

II.  Justification  Results  in  Change  from  Service  of  Law 

and  Sin  to  Service  of  Grace  and  Righteousness 346 

III.  Change    of    Relationship    from    Law    to    Christ    Illus- 
trated     349 


CONTENTS  ix 

PAGE. 

IV.  Sense  of  Bondage  Which  Comes  through  Law   Pre- 
pares Soul  to  Seek  Deliverance  through  Christ 352 

V.  New  Relationship  to  Christ  Changes  Mind  from  Carnal 

to   Spiritual    357 

VI.  New  Relationship  to  Christ  Results  in  Adoption,  Spirit 

of  Adoption  and  Heirship 360 

VII.  New  Relationship  Results  in  Aid  of  Spirit,  and  As- 
surance of  Salvation  because  Divinely  Decreed 364 

PART    SECOND. 

Explanatory  :  The  Doctrine  of  Righteousness  by  Faith 
Reconciled. 

I.  Since  Doctrine  Results  in  Condemnation  of  Israel,  Paul 

Shows  This  is  Contrary  to  Personal  Wish 2i7Z 

II.  Rejection  of  Israel  Not  Inconsistent  with  God's  Prom- 
ise  383 

III.  Rejection  of  Israel   Not  Inconsistent  with  Justice  of 

God  393 

IV.  God's  Absolute  Power  Asserted 401 

V.  The  Grand  Conclusion  and  Its  Explanations 412 

Subdivision  A. 

The  Conclusion  of  the  Argument  Reached 412 

Subdivision  B. 

Five  Explanations  of  the  Grand  Conclusion,  and  Ascrip- 
tions of  Praise 418 

I.  First  Explanation — Jews  Responsible  for  Their  Rejec- 
tion     418 

II.  Second  Explanation — Universality  of  Gospel  Demands 

its   World-wide   Extension 430 

III.  Third  Explanation^ — Casting  off  of  Israel  Is  but  Partial.  442 

IV.  Fourth  Explanation — Salutary  Results  of  Israel's  Tem- 

poral Fall  and  Future  Rise 453 

V.  Fifth  Explanation — A  Like  Mercy  to  be  Shown  Jews 

and  Gentiles  470 

VI.  Concluding  Ascriptions  of  Praise  to  God 478 


X  CONTENTS 

PART    THIRD.  page. 

Hortatory  Application — Various  Phases  of  Faith-life 
OF  Believer  in  Christ. 

I.  Basis  of  Faith-life  Defined — It  Is  Sacrificial  and  Sancti- 
fied    484 

II.  Faith-life  Operating  in  Church  Affairs  in  Humility 490 

III.  Faith-life  Operating  in   Church  and  Social  Affairs  in 

Love  and  Other  Virtues 496 

IV.  Faith-life  Discharging  Civil  Duties 505 

V.  Faith-life  Recognizing  Just  Rights  of  Others 513 

VI.  Faith-life  Finds  Its  Motives  in  Ever-impending  Com- 
ing of  the  Lord 517 

VII.  Faith-Hfe  Operating  in  Mutual  Forbearance 523 

PART    FOURTH. 

Epistolary  Conclusion,  Containing  Plans,  Requests,  ktc. 

I.  The    Apostle's    Ministry    and    Plans — A    Request    for 

Prayers    536 

II.  Commendation     of     Phcebe — Salutations — Warnings — 

Benediction    ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 544 


FIRST  EPISTLE  TO  THE  THESSA- 
LONIANS. 

INTRODUCTION. 

On  his  second  missionary  journey  Paul  founded  the  first 
European  church  at  Philippi.  Continuing  his  journey  one 
hundred  miles  farther,  he  came  to  Thessalonica,  which  was 
the  capital  of  the  second  Roman  district  of  the  province  of 
Macedonia.  It  was  a  large  and  important  commercial  city, 
containing  much  wealth  and  learning.  To  this  day  it  is  the 
second  city  in  European  Turkey,  ranking  next  to  Constanti- 
nople, and  has  between  75,000  and  100,000  inhabitants.  It  is 
now  called  Saloniki.  When  Paul  entered  it,  A.  D.  52,  the 
Greek  element  preponderated,  and  Roman  colonists  were 
next  in  number.  The  Jews  also  were  there,  and  had  at  least 
one  synagogue.  In  this  synagogue  Paul  and  Silas  and  Tim- 
othy began  their  work,  but  after  three  Sabbaths  they  were 
apparently  ejected  from  that  place  of  worship.  Then  an 
uproar  was  raised  by  the  Jews,  and  Paul  and  Silas  were  led 
out  of  the  city  by  night,  and  conducted  by  brethren  to  Beroea. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  Paul  was  in  Thessalonica  longer  than 
three  weeks,  for  he  succeeded  in  founding  a  church  there 
before  persecution  compelled  him  to  retire.  Immediately 
south  of  Thessalonica  were  the  snowclad  slopes  of  Mount 
Olympus,  the  supposed  seat  of  the  mythical  gods  of  Greece. 
The  infant  church  was  therefore  not  only  endangered  by  the 
opposition  of  the  Jews,  but  was  also  liable  to  assault  on  the 
part  of  the  pagans,  being  so  near  one  of  their  geographical 
centers.  As  might  be  expected,  Paul  felt  keenly  the  perils  of 
this  small  band  of  raw,  half-instructed  Christians,  and  (probably 
while  in  Beroea)  he  twice  tried  to  return  to  them,  but  was 
hindered  by  Satan.  Then  trouble  broke  out  in  Beroea,  and 
Paul  was  hurried  off  alone  to  Athens.     Timothy,  either  after 


2  FIRST   THESSALONIANS 

his  arrival  in  Athens,  or  probably  before  he  left  Beroea,  was 
ordered  by  Paul  to  go  and  visit  the  church  at  Thessalonica, 
and  bring  him  word  as  to  its  condition.  From  Athens  Paul 
came  to  Corinth,  and  here  was  joined  by  Silas  and  Timothy, 
the  latter  bringing  the  apostle  a  fairly  good  report  of  the 
church  at  Thessalonica.  Timothy,  however,  seems  to  have 
reported  that  the  Thessalonians  had  not  wholly  forsaken  the 
sensuality  and  covetousness  which  had  characterized  them  as 
pagans,  and  Paul  exhorts  them  to  forsake  these  sins.  Then, 
too,  the  Tljiessalonians  had  a  wrong  view  of  the  second  com- 
ing of  the  Lord.  They  expected  it  to  take  place  in  the  near 
future,  and  had  gotten  the  notion  that  only  those  who  were 
alive  at  the  Lord's  coming  would  participate  in  the  glories  and 
joys  of  that  hour.  Paul  corrects  this  idea  also  by  showing 
that  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  guarantees  the  resurrection  of 
those  who  believe  in  him.  The  doctrines  of  the  Epistle  are 
simple  and  practical,  for  the  Judaizing  questions  discussed  in 
Galatians  and  Romans,  and  the  Gnostic  errors  handled  in 
Colossians  and  Ephesians,  had  not  yet  been  raised.  As  a 
whole,  the  Epistle  may  be  taken  as  an  argument  tending  to 
confirm  the  faith  of  the  Thessalonians  in  the  divine  origin  of 
the  gospel.  That  the  gospel  is  of  God  is  shown  in  four  ways  : 
I.  It  had  been  attested  by  miracles.  2.  It  had  been  preached 
to  the  disadvantage  of  its  ministers  and  despite  bitter  opposi- 
tion. 3.  It  set  forth  precepts  the  sanctity  of  which  were 
worthy  of  heaven.  4.  Its  author  was  divine,  having  risen 
from  the  dead  and  become  the  author  of  the  resurrection.  On 
his  third  journey  Paul  must  have  visited  Thessalonica  fre- 
quently, and  these  visits,  together  with  his  Epistles,  were  not 
without  their  fruits,  for  Thessalonica  was  for  centuries  the 
bulwark  of  Christian  faith  in  the  East,  and  long  resisted  the 
invading  forces  of  the  Mohammedans.  When  word  went 
forth  in  A.  D.  1430  that  Thessalonica  had  fallen,  all  Christen- 
dom was  dismayed. 


PAULAS   FIRST   EPISTLE   TO  THE    ^ 
THESSALONIANS 

PART    FIRST 

i:  1-3:  13 

PERSONAL  RELATIONS,  AFFECTIONATE  DE- 
SIRES  AND    PRAYERS 

I. 

SALUTATION  AND  THANKS  FOR  THE  FAITH  OF 
THE  THESSALONIANS 

I :  i-io 

1  Paul,  and  Silvanus,  and  Timothy,  unto  the  church 
of  the  Thessalonians  in  God  the  Father  and  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ :  Grace  to  you  and  peace.  [In  this  saluta- 
tion Silas  and  Timothy  are  united  with  Paul  because  they  had 
aided  Paul  in  founding  the  church  at  Thessalonica.  The 
account  of  the  founding  of  this  church  will  be  found  in 
Acts  17.  Silas  is  mentioned  before  Timothy  because  he  is 
older,  both  in  years  and  in  service.  Compare  Acts  15:  22,  32, 
40  with  Acts  16:  1-3.  Silvanus  is  the  full  name,  and  Silas  the 
abbreviation.  The  name  is  Roman,  and  Silas  was  a  Roman 
citizen  (Acts  16:  37).  Silas  was  now  at  Corinth  with  Paul, 
and  Paul  mentions  his  services  there  (2  Cor.  i:  9).  Much  of 
the  opening  part  of  this  letter  embraces  Silas  and  Timothy 
in  its  thought,  but  in  chap.  2:  18  Paul  distinguishes  himself 
from  them,  and  from  that  time  on  the  letter  is  wholly  his. 
Neither  in  this  Epistle  nor  in  that  to  the  Philippians  does  Paul 
speak  of  himself  as  an  apostle.  In  other  Epistles  he  affirms 
his  apostleship  because,  in  the  case  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Ramans,  he  wrote  to  strangers,  and  in  other  cases  his  apostle- 


4  FIRST  THESSALONIANS 

ship  had  been  challenged.  As  to  Thessalonica,  see  the  Intro- 
duction. The  church  is  spoken  of  as  being  in  God  and  in 
Christ  because  in  this  respect  it  differs  from  all  other  organi- 
zations. It  is  its  privilege  to  dwell  in  fellowship  with  God,  so 
that  it  may  be,  as  it  were,  ensphered  and  encircled  by  him. 
Grace  was  the  Greek  and  peace  the  Hebrew  salutation  ;  Paul 
here  combines  them.  Grace  indicates  the  favor  of  God  and 
all  the  gifts  which  flow  from  it,  while  peace  represents  tran- 
quility and  prosperity,  either  inward  or  outward.]  2  We  give 
thanks  to  God  always  for  you  all,  making  mention  of 
you  in  our  prayers  ;  3  remembering  without  ceasing 
your  work  of  faith  and  labor  of  love  and  patience  of 
hope  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  before  our  God  and 
Father  [Paul  thanked  God  for  the  church  at  Thessalonica  for 
its  evidences  of  Christian  life  mentioned  in  the  remainder  of 
this  section.  In  the  words  before  us  he  sets  forth  their  rela- 
tions to  the  three  cardinal  Christian  graces,  or  faith,  I;iope  and 
love  (i  Thess.  5:8;  Col.  1:4,  5;  i  Cor.  13:  13).  Their  faith 
was  not  formal,  barren  and  dead  (Jas.  2:  20,  26);  but  it  actively 
worked,  bringing  their  wills  into  obedience  to  the  will  of  God 
(Rom.  i:  5  ;  16:  26)  ;  their  love  was  not  idle,  but  caused  them 
to  employ  themselves  in  heartfelt  toil  for  the  welfare  of  others ; 
and  their  hope  in  Christ  sustained  their  souls,  so  that  they 
endured  all  trials  and  persecutions,  and  were  unyielding  in 
their  conflict  with  temptation  and  doubt.  Thus,  each  in  its 
own  way,  the  three  graces  manifested  themselves,  and  in  such 
a  way  that  it  was  evident  that  these  graces  were  centered  in, 
inspired  by,  and  renewed  of  Christ,  and  viewed  with  approval 
by  the  Father];  4  knowing,  brethren  beloved  of  God, 
your  election,  5  how  that  our  gospel  [ours  not  by  right  of 
authorship,  but  of  proclamation]  came  not  unto  you  in 
word  only,  but  also  in  power,  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  in  much  assurance ;  even  as  ye  know  w^hat  man- 
ner of  men  we  showed  ourselves  toward  you  for 
your  sake.  6  And  ye  became  imitators  of  us  [i  Cor. 
11:  i],  and  of  the  Lord,  having  received  the  w^ord  in 
much  affliction  [Acts  17:  4-10],  with  joy  of  the  Holy 


PERSONAL   RELATIONS  5 

Spirit;  7  so  that  ye  became  an  ensample  to  all  that 
believe  in  Macedonia  and  in  Achaia.  [Continuing,  Paul 
gives  thanks  that  he  has  so  much  evidence  of  the  election  of 
the  Thessalonians  that  it  amounts  to  a  practical  knowledge  of 
that  election.  This  evidence  is  threefold:  i.  The  power  with 
which  he  and  his  companions  had  felt  endued  when  they 
preached  the  gospel  in  Thessalonica,  for  they  had  come  not  as 
vain  "babblers"  of  empty  words  (Acts  17:  18,  32),  but  as  mes- 
sengers of  God  speaking  truth  powerful  in  itself,  and  addition- 
ally supplemented  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit.  2.  The  undaunted 
way  in  which  the  Thessalonians  had  received  the  gospel, 
despite  the  swiftness  with  which  they  had  fallen  a  prey  to  per- 
secution. 3.  The  prompt  manner  in  which  the  gospel  had 
brought  forth  fruit  in  their  lives.  But  what  does  Paul  mean 
by  election?  Not  that  rigid,  arbitrary  choice  of  God  first  pro- 
mulgated by  Augustine,  and  afterwards  emohasized  by  Calvin, 
for  such  doctrine  was  not  then  known.  Such  an  absolute, 
unchangeable  thing  as  Calvinistic  election  could  only  have 
been  fittingly  made  known  to  an  apostle  by  direct  revelation, 
but  Paul  knew  the  election  here  spoken  of  by  mere  sensu- 
ous evidence.  To  elect  means  to  choose,  and  the  choosingsof 
God  do  not  annul  the  free  will  or  agency  of  man.  Thus  Israel 
is  chosen  (Deut.  7:6);  yet  afterwards  cast  off  because  of 
unbelief  (Matt.  8:  11,  12).  Election  is  not  made  absolute  by 
God  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  choosing  of  God  requires  that  we 
ourselves  make  our  calling  and  election  sure  (2  Pet.  i:  10);  it 
does  not  make  our  salvation  sure,  for  as  supplemental  to  it  we 
ourselves  must  still  work  out  our  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling  (Rom.  9:  11).  We  may  make  shipwreck  of  the  faith 
to  which  we  have  been  called  or  chosen  (i  Tim.  i:  20),  and 
Paul's  exhortations  suggest  that  some  of  these  elect  in  Thessa- 
lonica were  in  danger  of  doing  this — Thess.  4:  1-8.]  8  For 
from  you  hath  sounded  forth  [as  the  sonorous,  soul-stirring 
blast  of  a  trumpet]  the  word  of  the  Lord,  not  only  in 
Macedonia  and  Achaia  [after  its  subjection  by  the  Romans, 
all  Greece  was  divided  into  two  parts,  of  which  Macedonia  was 
the  northern,  and  Achaia  the  southern],  but  in  every  place 


6  FIRST  THESSALONIANS 

your  faith  to  God-ward  is  gone  forth;  so  that  -we  need 
not  to  speak  anything.  [Thessalonica,  being  a  seaport,  had 
intercourse  with  all  Greece,  and  with  much  of  the  then  known 
world.  News  of  the  church  in  that  place,  and  of  the  peculiar 
virtues  that  characterized  it,  soon  spread  through  all  Greece, 
and  was  borne  by  believers,  and  those  interested  in  carrying 
such  news,  to  the  more  remote  parts  of  the  earth.  Though 
Paul  had  not  been  beyond  the  confines  of  Greece  since  his 
departure  from  Thessalonica,  yet  his  experience  in  Greece  leads 
him  to  speak  by  way  of  anticipation  of  parts  as  yet  unvisited, 
and  to  represent  the  good  news  of  the  faith,  etc.,  of  the 
Thessalonians  to  have  preceded  him  so  that  he  had  no  need  to 
say  anything  about  it.]  9  For  they  themselves  [those  to 
whom  Paul  came]  report  concerning  us  what  manner  of 
entering  in  w^e  had  unto  you ;  and  how^  ye  turned  unto 
God  from  idols,  to  serve  a  living  and  true  God,  10  and 
to  wait  for  his  Son  from  heaven,  whom  he  raised 
from  the  dead,  even  Jesus,  who  delivereth  us  from  the 
wrath  to  come.  [Paul  had  gone  from  Thessalonica  to 
Athens,  and  from  Athens  to  Corinth.  He  may  have  done  con- 
siderable missionary  work  in  the  smaller  villages  about  Corinth. 
Now,  as  he  went  about  through  Corinth  and  through  these 
villages  he  found  that  instead  of  being  permitted  to  tell  of  the 
good  work  which  he  had  done  at  Corinth,  he  himself  had  to 
become  a  listener  while  strangers  told  him  how  he  had  preached 
the  gospel  there,  and  how  those  who  had  been  for  generations 
worshipers  of  dead  idols  had  turned  unto  the  living  God,  and 
those  whose  fathers  had  for  centuries  worshiped  the  imaginary 
gods  of  that  Mount  Olympus  under  whose  shadow  they  dwelt, 
had  suddenly  become  worshipers  of  the  true  God  as  revealed 
in  Christ :  thus  becoming  disciples  of  a  religion  which  taught 
that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God,  that  he  had  been  raised  from 
the  dead,  that  he  had  ascended  to  heaven,  from  whence  he 
had  promised  to  return  to  his  waiting  disciples,  whom  he  keeps 
in  a  constant  state  of  justification,  so  that  they  are  delivered 
from  every  manifestation  of  the  wrath  of  God,  either  now  pres- 
ent or  to  be  revealed  at  the  last  judgment.] 


HO  IV   THE    WORD    WAS  PREACHED  7 

II. 

HOW   THE    WORD    WAS    PREACHED    AND    HOW 
RECEIVED. 

2:  1-16. 

[In  this  section,  Paul  amplifies  two  statements  made  in  the 
previous  section.  In  verses  1-13,  he  enlarges  upon  the  facts 
set  forth  in  verse  5  above,  and  verses  13-16  are  a  similar  enlarge- 
ment of  the  matter  contained  in  verse  6.]  1  For  yourselves 
[as  distinguished  from  those  above  mentioned  who  carried  or 
repeated  the  news  of  the  work  at  Thessalonica],  brethren, 
know  our  entering  in  unto  you,  that  it  hath  not  been 
found  vain  [that  Paul's  coming  to  Thessalonica  had  not  been 
vain  or  fruitless  was  proved  by  the  fact  that  in  this  pagan  city 
a  church  of  Christ  was  now  found]:  2  but  having  suffered 
before  and  been  shamefully  treated,  as  ye  know,  at 
Philippi,  w^e  w^axed  bold  in  our  God  to  speak  unto  you 
the  gospel  of  God  in  much  conflict.  [The  Thessalonians 
remembered  how  Paul  and  Silas  had  come  to  them  fresh  from 
Phihppi,  with  the  evidences  of  persecution  yet  apparent  on  their 
bodies — a  persecution  which  was  indeed  shameful  because  it 
was  wholly  undeserved  and  contrary  to  law — but  they  also  re- 
membered that  they  were  in  no  way  terrified  or  deterred 
either  by  these  present  tokens  of  past  suffering,  or  by  the 
storm  of  persecution  which  threatened  their  speedy  repetition, 
from  preaching  the  gospel  boldly.]  3  For  our  exhortation 
is  not  of  error,  nor  of  uncleanness,  nor  in  guile  [The 
word  "exhortation"  has  a  double  significance — it  includes  the 
idea  of  rousing  the  slothful,  and  also  that  of  comforting  the 
sorrowful.  Paul  here  begins  to  contrast  his  teaching  with 
that  of  false  teachers  with  whom  the  world  abounded,  and 
with  whom  the  Thessalonians  had  been  long  familiar.  The 
instruction  of  these  teachers,  being  founded  on  myths,  fables 
and  delusions,  was  full  of  error.  The  purpose  of  the  instruc- 
tion was  to  introduce  lascivious  mysteries  and  unhallowed  rites 


8  FIRST  THESSALONIANS 

such  as  the  Bacchic,  Isiac,  Mythraic,  etc.;  the  manner  of  the 
instruction  was  full  of  trickery  and  guile  (Acts  8:  9;  13:  6-10). 
Paul  had  not  roused  the  indifferent  by  proclaiming  false  dan- 
gers, nor  comforted  the  despairing  by  wakening  vain  hopes]: 

4  but  even  as  we  have  been  approved  of  God  to  be 
intrusted  with  the  gospel,  so  we  speak ;  not  as  pleas- 
ing men,  but  God  who  proveth  our  hearts.  [Instead  of 
preaching  the  old  falsehoods  which  had  so  long  pleased  the 
wicked  of  Thessalonica,  Paul  had  come  as  a  trustee  of  God 
commissioned  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  he  had  preached  it 
realizing  his  accountability  as  to  the  trust  imposed  upon  him.] 

5  For  neither  at  any  time  were  we  found  using 
words  of  flattery,  as  ye  know,  nor  a  cloak  of  covet- 
ousness,  God  is  witness  [As  to  his  outward  conduct 
(that  it  was  without  flattery)  he  calls  the  Thessalonians  to 
witness,  and  as  to  his  inward  desires  (that  they  were  without 
covetousness)  he  calls  God  to  witness.  Self-seeking  and 
flattery  were  the  besetting  sins  of  false  teachers  (Rom.  16:  18). 
Paul  had  spoken  plainly  of  the  sins  of  his  hearers,  and  had 
demanded  immediate  and  thorough  repentance];  6  nor  seek- 
ing glory  of  men,  neither  from  you  nor  from  others, 
when  we  might  have  claimed  authority  as  apostles 
of  Christ.  [As  the  apostle  had  not  preached  for  money, 
neither  had  he  preached  for  fame.  Though  he  might  have 
stood  upon  his  dignity,  and  magnified  his  office  as  an  ambas- 
sador of  God,  yet  he  had  not  done  even  this.  He  had  not 
preached  the  'gospel  because  he  held  high  office  in  the  king- 
dom, and  so  would  be  exalted  by  its  enlargement ;  but  he  had 
preached  to  save  souls.  Not  only  at  Thessalonica  had  he 
done  this,  but  everywhere  else.]  7  But  we  were  gentle 
in  the  midst  of  you,  as  when  a  nurse  [nourisher;  i.  e., 
nursing  mother]  cherisheth  her  own  children  :  8  even  so, 
being  affectionately  desirous  of  you  [not  yours,  but  you], 
we  were  well  pleased  to  impart  unto  you,  not  the 
gospel  of  God  only  [as  the  sincere  milk  of  the  Word],  but 
also  [as  mothers  often  do  for  their  new-born  babes]  our  own 
souls  [lives— I  John  3:  16],  because  ye  were  become  very 


PERSONAL   RELATIONS  9 

dear  to  us.  9  For  ye  remember,  brethren,  our  labor 
and  travail :  working  night  and  day  [the  Hebrew  order — 
Gen.  1:5],  that  we  might  not  burden  any  of  you,  we 
preached  unto  you  the  gospel  of  God.  [The  apostle  was 
so  intent  upon  blessing  the  Thessalonians  with  the  gospel  of 
God  that  he  toiled  at  night  to  make  up  the  time  spent  in 
teaching  them  by  day.]  10  Ye  are  witnesses,  and  God 
aUo^  how  holily  [toward  God]  and  righteously  [toward 
man]  and  unblamably  [either  toward  God  or  man]  we 
behaved  ourselves  toward  you  that  believe  [Paul  here 
claims  not  perfection,  but  consistency  of  life]:  11  as  ye  know 
how  we  dealt  with  each  one  of  you  [individually,  and 
without  partiality],  as  a  father  [as  patiently,  tenderly  and 
earnestly  as  a  father]  with  his  own  children,  exhorting 
you,  and  encouraging  yorr,  and  testifying,  12  to  the 
end  that  ye  should  walk  worthily  of  God,  who  calleth 
you  into  his  own  kingdom  and  glory.  [As  those  who 
are  called  to  an  honor  owe  it  to  the  one  calling  them  to  walk 
worthy  of  the  honor,  so  the  Thessalonians,  being  called  to 
have  part  in  the  present  kingdom  and  future  glory  of  God, 
needed  to  walk  circumspectly.  Having  thus  rehearsed  the 
ministry  at  Thessalonica  step  by  step,  from  the  day  he  entered 
the  city  until  he  departed  from  it,  Paul  now  turns  to  tell  the 
effects  of  that  ministry  upon  the  Thessalonians.]  13  And 
for  this  cause  we  also  thank  God  without  ceasing 
[without  ever  failing  to  mention  it  in  our  prayers],  that, 
when  ye  received  from  us  the  word  of  the  message, 
even  the  word  of  God,  ye  accepted  it  not  as  the  word 
of  men,  but,  as  it  is  in  truth,  the  word  of  God,  which 
also  worketh  in  you  that  believe.  [The  word  is  the  good 
seed  of  the  kingdom  which  the  heart  receives,  and  from 
which    it   brings   forth    fruit   with   patience — Luke    8:  11-15.] 

14  For  ye,  brethren,  became  imitators  of  the  churches 
of  God  which  are  in  Judaea  in  Christ  Jesus  :  for  ye 
also  suffered  the  same  things  of  your  ow^n  country- 
men, even  as  they  did  of  the  Jews  [their  countrymen]  ; 

15  who  both  killed  the  Lord  Jesus  and  the  prophets, 


10  FIRST   THESSALONIANS 

and  drove  out  us,  and  please  not  God,  and  are  contrary 
to  all  men ;  16  forbidding  us  to  speak  to  the  Gentiles 
that  they  may  be  saved;  to  fill  up  their  sins  always 
[Gen.  15:  16;  Matt.  23:  32]  :  but  the  wrath  is  come  upon 
them  to  the  uttermost.  [While  narrating  the  course  of 
events  at  Thessalonica,  Paul  notes  the  similarity  between  the 
history  of  the  Thessalonian  church  and  that  of  the  Judsean 
churches,  and  reviews  the  latter  history  for  the  encouragement 
of  the  Thessalonians.  Surely  the  opposition  of  their  pagan 
countrymen  ought  not  to  cause  these  Thessalonian  Christians 
to  doubt  that  God  favored  or  approved  them,  for  such  opposi- 
tion was  to  be  expected.  Even  the  Jews,  though  professedly 
the  people  of  God,  had  killed  God's  prophets  and  Christ  their 
Lord,  and  had  driven  out  the  apostles  and  evangelists. 
Though  the  Jews  were  God's  people,  their  conduct  in  rejecting 
God's  Son  showed  that  they  did  not  please  God ;  and  that 
they  were  haters  of  their  fellow-men  was  very  apparent,  for 
they  even  forbade  Christ's  apostles  to  attempt  to  save  the  Gen- 
tiles by  preaching  the  gospel  to  them.  Their  opposition  to 
churches  either  in  Judaea  or  Greece  was  therefore  no  evidence 
that  God  disapproved  these  churches :  on  the  contrary,  God 
patiently  permitted  them  to  do  all  this,  that  their  wickedness 
might  be  fully  ripened  and  exposed,  so  that  a  full  and  notable 
punishment  might  be  meted  out  to  them — a  punishment  which 
began  just  before  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  and  continues  to 
this  day.  Wrath  unto  the  uttermost,  or  unto  the  end,  signifies 
a  wrath  which  fully  expends  itself  in  executing  judgment.  It 
does  not  mean  wrath  unto  the  end  of  the  world— Rom.  11:  15, 
25,  26.] 


REASONS  FOR  SENDING    TIMOTHY         H 


III. 

REASONS    FOR    SENDING    TIMOTHY,    AND    JOY 
OVER   THE   REPORT   HE   BROUGHT. 

2:  17-20;  3:  1-13. 

17  But  we,  brethren,  being  bereaved  of  you  for  a 
short  season  [about  six  months],  in  presence  not  in 
heart  [Col.  2:  5],  endeavored  the  more  exceedingly  to 
see  your  face  with  great  desire  [Paul  had  been  torn 
rudely  from  the  Thessalonians  by  the  hand  of  persecution,  so 
he  speaks  of  being  "bereaved"  of  them,  thus  using  a  strong 
word  which  indicates  both  the  separation  and  the  sense  of 
desolation  which  arose  from  it.  Though  he  had  been  but 
about  six  months  absent  from  them,  his  heart  was  filled  with 
desires  to  return  to  them]:  18  because  we  w^ould  fain 
have  come  unto  you,  I  Paul  once  and  again  [emphatic 
way  of  saying  twice];  and  Satan  hindered  us.  [How 
Satan  hindered,  we  are  not  told,  but  we  find  that  his  emissa- 
ries had  so  little  disposition  to  let  Paul  return  that  they  drove 
him  from  BercEa  onward  to  Athens.]  19  For  what  is  our 
hope,  or  joy,  or  crown  of  glorying  ?  Are  not  even  ye, 
before  our  Lord  Jesus  at  his  coming  ?  20  For  ye  are 
our  glory  and  our  joy.  [Paul  also  calls  the  Phihppians  his 
joy  and  crown  (Phil.  4:  i),  and  expresses,  as  here,  a  hope  of 
glorying  hereafter  both  in  them  and  in  the  Corinthians  (Phil. 
2:  16;  2  Cor.  i:  14).  Paul  usually  employs  the  word  "crown" 
in  a  figurative  sense,  the  figure  being  derived  from  the  wreath 
or  chaplets  worn  by  athletes  in  the  Grecian  games  (i  Cor.  9: 
24-27 ;  2  Tim.  4:  7,  8),  and  it  is  fair  to  suppose  that  he  does 
so  here.  The  full  thought,  then,  is  this :  As  an  athlete,  who, 
in  the  absence  of  his  king,  had  entered  the  contest,  competed 
for,  and  won  the  crown,  would,  on  the  king's  appearing, 
rejoice  to  lay  his  trophy  at  the  king's  feet ;  so  Paul,  having 
won  the  Thessalonians  for  Christ,  hoped  that  he  might  joyfully 
present  them  to  Christ  at  his  coming.    The  passage  is  a  beau- 


12  FIRST   THESSALONIANS 

tiful  but  effectual  rebuke  to  the  idle  fears  of  some  Christians 
that  they  will  not  recognize  their  friends  in  the  hereafter.  If 
Paul  could  not  recognize  the  Thessalonians,  how  could  he 
present  them  as  his  crown,  or  glory  in  them?] 

III.  1  Wherefore  when  we  [by  this  plural  Paul  means 
himself  only]  could  no  longer  forbear,  we  thought  it 
good  to  be  left  behind  at  Athens  alone ;  2  and  sent 
Timothy,  our  brother  and  God's  minister  in  the  gospel 
of  Christ,  to  establish  you,  and  to  comfort  you  con- 
cerning your  faith  [fearful  lest  the  infant  church  should 
succumb  to  temptation  or  to  persecution,  and  unable  longer 
to  endure  his  want  of  information  concerning  it,  Paul  had 
sent  Timothy,  from  Athens,  that  he  might  visit  the  Thes- 
salonians, and  bring  him  word  as  to  their  spiritual  condition ; 
though  in  so  doing  he  had  deprived  himself  of  all  brotherly 
fellowship  and  ministerial  assistance  in  Athens,  the  seat  of 
idolatry  and  vain  philosophy] ;  3  that  no  man  [of  you]  be 
moved  by  these  afflictions  ;  for  yourselves  know^  that 
hereunto  we  are  appointed.  ["We"  refers  to  all  Chris- 
tians, and  Theophylact  sagely  remarks,  "Let  all  Christians 
hear  this."  As  to  the  doctrine,  see  Matt.  13:  21  ;  Mark  10: 
30;  John  15:  18;  16:33;  Acts  4:  22.]  4  For  verily,  when 
we  were  with  you,  we  told  you  beforehand  that  we 
are  to  suffer  affliction ;  even  as  it  came  to  pass,  and 
ye  know.  [As  to  the  affliction  which  Paul  foretold  and 
which  came  upon  them,  see  Acts  17:  5-9.]  5  For  this  cause 
[because  he  feared  that  persecution  might  cause  them  to 
apostatize]  I  also,  when  I  could  no  longer  forbear 
[resuming  the  thought  of  verse  i],  sent  that  I  might  know 
your  faith,  lest  by  any  means  [and  Satan  has  many]  the 
tempter  had  tempted  you,  and  our  labor  should  be 
in  vain.  [It  is  sad  to  lose  spiritual  labor,  but  sadder  still  to 
lose  the  souls  which  are  the  results  of  it.  But  we  should  not 
leave  this  passage  without  observing  that  if  Paul  had  had 
Calvinism  in  mind,  and  had  wished  to  assert  that  the  elect 
might  fall  from  grace  and  be  lost  despite  their  election,  he 
could  hardly  have   stated  his  point   more   clearly,   for  these 


REASONS  FOR  SENDING    TIMOTHY  13 

words  are  addressed  to  those  whom  he  has  just  pronounced 
elect.]  6  But  when  Timothy  came  even  now  [suggest- 
ing that  Paul  wrote  on  the  day  of  Timothy's  arrival,  or  very 
soon  after]  unto  us  from  you,  and  brought  us  glad 
tidings  of  your  faith  and  love,  and  that  ye  have  good 
remembrance  of  us  always,  longing  to  see  us,  even 
as  we  also  to  see  you;  7  for  this  cause,  brethren, 
we  were  comforted  over  you  in  all  our  distress  and 
affliction  through  your  faith  [Since  Paul  would  be  com- 
forted as  to  the  Thessalonians  by  the  good  news  of  their 
condition  brought  by  Timothy,  the  "distress  and  affliction" 
must  have  referred  to  other  matters  which  disturbed  the 
apostle's  rest.  These  were  doubtless  the  failure  at  Athens, 
and  the  troubles  which  he  had  at  Corinth  before  the  negative 
protection  afforded  him  by  Gallio,  when  that  official  refused 
to  interfere,  either  to  aid  or  hinder  him  (Acts  18:  6-12).  Thus 
the  good  news  from  Thessalonica  lightened  the  apostle's  bur- 
dens at  Corinth] :  8  for  now  w^e  live,  if  ye  stand  fast  in 
the  Lord.  [The  good  news  made  Paul  relish  and  enjoy  life, 
just  as  his  afflictions  and  distress  had  been  to  him  a  kind  of 
death.  Comp.  i  Cor.  15:  31.]  9  For  w^hat  thanksgiving 
can  we  render  again  unto  God  for  you,  for  all  the 
joy  wherewith  we  joy  for  your  sakes  before  our  God 
[Paul  felt  that  he  could  not  be  thankful  enough  for  the  joy 
which  the  faith  of  the  Thessalonians  gave  him ;  not  a  joy 
arising  from  worldly  or  personal  pride  in  them,  but  a  joy  so 
pure  and  holy  that  it  could  be  displayed  before  the  searching 
eye  of  God];  10  night  and  day  praying  exceedingly  that 
we  may  see  your  face,  and  may  perfect  that  which 
is  lacking  in  your  faith?  ["Night,"  says  Joseph  de 
Maistre,  "is  a  great  chapter  in  the  Psalms,  to  which  David 
often  recurs."  Paul,  Hke  David,  employed  much  of  the  night 
in  meditation  and  prayer.  At  such  times  he  remembered  the 
brevity  and  sudden  termination  of  his  ministry  in  Thessalonica, 
and  realized  that  his  converts  were  not  fully  instructed  in 
many  items  of  faith  and  doctrine  ;  he  therefore  prayed  that 
he  might  return  and  complete  his  instruction.     After  three  or 


14  FIRST   THESSALONIANS 

four  years  his  prayer  was  answered  (Acts  20:  i,  2),  and  some 
ten  years  after  that  it  was  again  answered — i  Tim.  i:  3.] 
11  Now  may  our  God  and  Father  himself,  and  our 
Lord  Jesus,  direct  our  way  unto  you :  12  and  the 
Lord  make  you  to  increase  and  abound  in  love  one 
toward  another,  and  toward  all  men,  even  as  we  also 
do  toward  you ;  13  to  the  end  he  may  establish  your 
hearts  unblamable  in  holiness  before  our  God  and 
Father,  at  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  with  all 
his  saints.  [The  "you"  of  verse  12  is  emphatic,  and  stands 
in  contrast  with  "our"  of  verse  11,  as  though  Paul  said  "the 
Lord  direct  our  way  to  you,  but  whether  he  does  so  or  not, 
may  he  prosper  you,  causing  your  love  to  grow  and  abound, 
even  as  we  grow  in  love  toward  you,  that  by  love  (though  ye 
may  lack  somewhat  of  instruction)  ye  may  be  so  established 
that  no  one  can  lay  anything  to  your  charge  when  the  Lord 
Jesus  comes."  The  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians  have  many 
such  brief  prayers  (i  Thess.  3:11;  5:23;  2  Thess.  i:  11 ; 
2:16;  3:5-16).  In  verse  11,  and  also  at  2  Thess.  2:16,  17, 
while  we  have  God  and  Jesus  for  nominatives,  yet  the  accom- 
panying verb  is  in  the  singular,  thus  showing  the  oneness  or 
unity  of  God.  The  love  which  Paul  here  asks  for  is  Christian 
love.  "This,"  says  Theophylact,  "is  the  character  of  divine 
love  to  comprehend  all ;  whereas  human  love  hath  respect  to 
one  man,  and  not  to  another."  Since  the  word  "saints" 
(literally,  holy  ones)  is  used  in  the  Old  Testament  to  include 
angels,  it  is  likely  that  they  are  included  here,  for  Paul's 
words  are,  no  doubt,  an  indirect  quotation  of  Zech.  14:  5.] 


SUNDRY  EXHORTATIONS  15 


PART    SECOND. 

EXHORTATIONS,  INSTRUCTION  AS  TO  THE 

LORD'S  COMING,  FINAL  EXHORTATIONS, 

PRAYER  AND  BENEDICTION. 

4:  1-5:  28. 

I. 

SUNDRY   EXHORTATIONS. 

4:  1-12. 

1  Finally  then,  brethren,  we  beseech  and  exhort 
you  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  that,  as  ye  received  of  us  how 
ye  ought  to  walk  and  to  please  God,  even  as  ye  do 
walk,— that  ye  abound  more  and  more.  [The  first  part 
of  this  Epistle  was  retrospective  and  historical.  In  it  Paul 
fully  revived  the  spirit  of  love  which  had  existed  between  him 
and  these  Thessalonians.  This  he  did  that  this  second  part, 
which  is  prospective  and  hortatory,  might  be  made  more 
effective.  "Finally"  is  the  word  with  which  Paul  customarily 
introduces  the  closing  part  of  his  Epistles  (2  Cor.  13:  i ;  Eph. 
6:  10;  Phil.  4:  8;  2  Thess.  3:  i).  The  word  **then"  connects 
this  chapter  with  the  close  of  the  third  chapter,  showing  that 
what  Paul  now  says  is  spoken  that  the  Thessalonians  may  be 
blameless  at  the  Lord's  coming.  "In  the  Lord  Jesus"  shows 
that  Paul  wrote  as  the  organ  or  iristrument  of  the  Lord.  In 
the  phrase  "ye  do  walk"  Paul  concedes  their  virtue  that  he 
may  water  it  and  increase  it.]  2  For  ye  know  what 
charge  we  gave  you  through  the  Lord  Jesus.  [The 
commandments  were  given  by  Paul  through  the  inspiration 
of  the  Spirit  sent  of  Jesus.  Throughout  this  chapter  Paul 
asserts  his  inspiration.]  3  For  this  is  the  will  of  God, 
even  your  sanctification,  that  ye  abstain  from  forni- 


16  FIRST   THESSALONIANS 

cation ;  4  that  each  one  of  you  know  how  to  pos- 
sess himself  of  his  own  vessel  in  sanctification  and 
honor,  5  not  in  the  passion  of  lust,  even  as  the  Gen- 
tiles who  know  not  God  [By  "will  of  God"  Paul  means 
the  divine  desire.  Not  an  absolute  desire,  but  one  which 
human  perversity  may  frustrate.  "Sanctification"  means 
holiness  in  its  general  sense.  In  all  his  Epistles  to  the  Gentile 
churches  Paul  introduces  exhortations  to  purity  of  life.  He 
was  at  this  time  in  Corinth,  whose  patron  goddess  was  Venus, 
and  where  social  impurity  abounded.  "Heathenism,"  says 
Whedon,  "had  made  the  crime  trivial,  jocular,  rather  smart, 
and  even  religious  and  right.  All  this  must  Christianity 
reverse,  and  pla-ce  it  among  the  most  heinous  sins,  and  subject 
to  the  most  fearful  penalties."  There  has  been  much  discus- 
sion over  the  phrase  "possess  himself  of  his  own  vessel," 
some  asserting  that  it  means  to  acquire  a  wife,  and  others  that 
it  means  to  control  the  body  and  its  desires.  The  problem  is 
surely  a  difficult  one.  The  verb  "possess"  is  commonly  used 
to  indicate  the  winning  or  acquiring  of  a  wife,  and  i  Pet.  3:  7 
is  cited  to  prove  that  the  word  "vessel"  is  used  to  indicate  a 
wife.  One  other  citation  is  given  from  the  Talmud,  where 
Ahasuerus  is  represented  as  calling  his  wife  his  "vessel." 
But  the  Talmud  does  not  prove  Hebrew  usage  in  Paul's  day, 
being  written  many  centuries  later,  and  the  citation  from  Peter 
proves  nothing,  for  the  word  "vessel"  is  there  used  to  indicate 
the  human  body,  the  man's  being  the  stronger,  and  the 
woman's  the  weaker.  The  human  body  or  personality  is 
elsewhere  called  a  vessel  in  the  Bible  (Acts  9:  15;  Rom.  9: 
21-23  ;  2  Cor.  4:  7  ;  2  Tim.  2:  21 ;  i  Sam.  21:  5).  This  Biblical 
use  of  the  word  is  strongly  against  the  idea  that  it  could  mean 
a  wife.  The  wo-rd  "vessel,"  then,  favors  the  idea  that  Paul 
is  talking  about  the  body.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  urged 
that  the  verb  "possess"  here  used  simply  means  to  win  or 
acquire,  and  never  has  that  ethical  use  (to  possess  morally,  to 
subdue,  or  control)  which  is  claimed  for  it  here.  It  is  true 
that  no  classical  or  Biblical  citations  can  be  given  of  such  a 
use,  but  that  it  is  used  so  here  is  unquestionable,  whichever 


SUNDRY  EXHORTATIONS  17 

interpretation  we   put  upon  "vessel  ";    for  the  full  phrase   is 
"possess   in  sanctification   and   honor,"   etc.,   introduced    by 
the   phrase  "know   how."      Conceding  that   Paul   is  talking 
about  a  wife,  he  certainly  does  not  mean  to  say  that  each  man 
should  know  how  to  win  or  acquire  a  wife ;  there  is  nothing 
moral  or  spiritual  about  such  knowledge.     What  he  does  say 
is  that  a  man  should  know  how  to  hold  or  possess  (either  his 
wife  or  his  body)  in  sanctification  and  in  honor;  i.  e.,  in  moral 
cleanliness.     We  take  it  that  Paul  here  urges  bodily  self-con- 
trol, and  that  the  passage  is  a  parallel   rather  to  Rom.  6:  19 
than  to  I  Cor.  7:  2];  6  that  no  man  transgress  [literally, 
overreach],    and    wrong    his    brother    in    the    matter 
[Because  the  word  "overreach"  is    usually   associated    with 
bargaining,    trading,    and   other    business    transactions,    able 
commentators  have  thought  that  Paul  here  introduced  covet- 
ousness,  that  it   might  be  rebuked   together  with  lust.     But 
Paul's  language  is  not  to  be  so  contorted.     The  thought  flows 
smoothly  on  to  the  end  of  verse  8.     Lust  has  its  deceptions, 
its  overreachings,  its  covetousness,  as  well  as  commercialism. 
"Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  wife"]:  because  the 
Lord  is  an   avenger  in  all   these  things,  as   also   we 
forewarned  you   and   testified.      [God  punishes  all  such 
crimes — Rom.   13*4;  Eph.  5:5,6;   Col.  3:6.]      7  For   God 
called   us  not   for  uncleanness,  but  in  sanctification. 
["  God   has  not  called  us  under  the  law  that  we  should  be 
impure,  since,  indeed,   the  very  cause    and   condition  of   our 
calling  is  that  we  should  cease  to  be  what  we  once  were." — 
Erasmus?^     8   Therefore   he   that    rejecteth,   rejecteth 
not  man,  but   God,  who  giveth  his   Holy  Spirit  unto 
you.     [The  "  rejecteth"  of  this  verse  refers  to  the  forewarn- 
ing and  testifying  of  verse  6.     Those  who  did  not  heed  the 
warning   and    testimony   were    not    rejecting   the    counsel   of 
Paul,   but   the   counsel   of    God    himself  (Luke   13:  16;    Acts 
5:  4),  and  if  they  were  Christians  they  were  doubly  guilty,  it 
being  sin  enough  to  reject  God's  warnings  even  if  he  had  not 
given  his  Holy  Spirit  to  strengthen  and  encourage  in  heeding 
those  warnings.     The  Holy  Spirit  makes  us  temples  not  to  be 


18  FIRST   THESSALONIANS 

defiled.  Here  again  Paul  asserts  the  divine  authority  of  the 
teaching  which  came  through  him.]  9  But  concerning 
love  of  the  brethren  ye  have  no  need  that  one  write 
unto  you  [having  spoken  of  that  false,  unclean,  lustful  thing 
which  the  world  called  love,  and  which  made  them  give  the 
title  "goddess  of  love"  to  Venus,  Paul  here  turns  to  discuss 
the  true  love  which  Christians  bear  to  Christians — Heb.  13:  i  ; 
I  John  3: 14]:  for  ye  yourselves  are  taught  of  God  to 
love  one  another  [Concerning  this  love  the  whole  gospel 
had  instructed  the  Thessalonians,  for  when  they  were  born  of 
God  by  it  they  became  children  of  God's  household,  and 
brethren  unto  each  other.  The  very  framework  and  structure 
of  Christianity  inculcated  principles  of  love  and  affection]; 
10  for  indeed  ye  do  it  toward  all  the  brethren  that 
are  in  all  Macedonia.  But  we  exhort  you,  brethren, 
that  ye  abound  more  and  more  [Though  their  love 
already  reached  beyond  the  large  confines  of  Thessalonica, 
and  took  in  all  Macedonia,  Paul  exhorts  them  to  extend  it  to 
even  a  larger  compass.  Christian  love  must  embrace  the 
world];  11  and  that  ye  study  to  be  quiet  [The  Greeks 
were  naturally  mercurial  and  restless.  How  much  they  needed 
this  advice  to  be  quiet,  or  steady,  will  be  seen  in  Paul's  second 
Epistle,  where  he  reproves  them  for  their  wild  fanaticism, 
built  upon  false  hopes  of  Christ's  immediate  coming],  and  to 
do  your  own  business  [without  being  meddlesome],  and 
to  work  w^ith  your  hands,  even  as  we  charged  you; 
12  that  ye  may  walk  becomingly  toward  them  that 
are  w^ithout,  and  may  have  need  of  nothing.  [Instead 
of  spending  their  time  in  restless  gadding  about  or  idle 
meddling  with  other  people's  affairs,  Paul  expected  them  to 
heed  his  warning,  and  earn  their  own  living.  These  Thessa- 
lonians were  mostly  of  the  laboring  class.  If  they  were  idle, 
they  would  quickly  be  reduced  to  dependence  or  beggary,  and 
the  unbelieving  world  without  (Col.  4:  5)  would  quickly  say  of 
the  new  religion  that  it  made  men  idle  and  worthless.  Paul 
therefore  counsels  them  to  that  industry  that  would  make  them 
independent,  self-respecting  and  respected.] 


THE  RESURRECTION  19 

II. 

THE  RESURRECTION  AND  THE  LORD'S  COMING. 
4:  13-5:11. 

13  But  we  would  not  have  you  ignorant  [This  is 
Paul's  habitual  formula,  used  either  negatively  or  positively, 
with  which  to  start  a  new  topic  (Rom.  1:13;  11:  25  ;  Col.  2:  i  ; 
I  Cor.  10:  I ;  11:  3  ;  12:  i ;  2  Cor.  1:8;  Phil,  i:  12).  It  shows 
us  that  what  he  is  now  about  to  say  has  no  connection  with 
what  precedes.  It  seems  that  Timothy  brought  Paul  word 
that  many  Thessalonians  entertained  the  crude  notion  that 
only  the  living  would  participate  in  the  joys  of  Christ's  coming, 
and  that  all  those  who  were  so  unfortunate  as  to  die  before 
that  event,  would  thereby  forfeit  their  share  in  it.  It  is  not 
strange  that  such  a  doctrine  should  spring  up  among  those 
who  had  been  so  hastily  instructed  as  the  Thessalonians, 
especially  when  we  may  safely  surmise  that  many  new  converts 
had  been  added  to  their  number  since  Paul's  departure], 
brethren,  concerning  them  that  fall  asleep ;  that  ye 
sorrow  not,  even  as  the  rest  [-the  pagans],  who  have 
no  hope.  [Paul  speaks  of  the  dead  as  sleeping,  employing 
the  beautiful  New  Testament  metaphor  (John  11:  11  ;  Acts 
7:  16;  I  Cor.  15:  18,  51),  in  which  the  grave  becomes  a  couch 
wherein  the  body  rests  until  it  is  wakened  at  the  resurrection. 
Those  grossly  pervert  the  metaphor  who  use  it  to  prove  that 
the  soul  also  slumbers.  The  apostle  does  not  forbid  sorrow 
over  our  departed  (Acts  8:  2 ;  John  11:  35),  but  that  despairing 
grief  which  characterized  the  pagan  of  that  day  who  had  no 
hope  of  a  resurrection.  Alford  gives  such  quotations  as  these 
from  pagan  writers.  Theocritus:  **  Hope  goes  with  life;  all 
hopeless  are  the  dead."  ^schylus:  "Once  dead  there  is  no 
resurrection  more."  Cetullus:  "Suns  may  set  and  may 
return  ;  we,  when  once  our  brief  life  wanes,  have  eternal 
night  to  sleep."  Lucretius :  *'  None  evet  wake  again  whom 
the  cold  pause  of  life  hath  overtaken."     To  these  might  be 


20  FIRST    THESSALONIANS 

added  the  pathetic  lines  of  Moschus :  "We  shall  sleep  the 
long,  limitless,  unawakable  slumber,"  and  the  citation  of 
Jowett  as  to  "the  sad  complaints  of  Cicero  and  Quintilian 
over  the  loss  of  their  children,  and  the  dreary  hope  of  an 
immortality  of  fame  in  Tacitus  and  Thucydides."  The 
Christian  should  stand  in  contrast  to  all  this,  assuaging  his 
sorrow  by  a  blessed  hope.]  14  For  if  we  believe  that 
Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so  them  also  that 
are  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  him. 
[Paul  here  founds  an  affirmation  on  the  intimate  relation 
which  exists  between  Christ  and  his  people  ;  a  relation  which 
he  elsewhere  likens  to  the  union  between  the  head  and  the 
body  (Eph.  4:  15,  16);  the  argument  being  that  if  the  head 
enjoys  a  resurrection,  the  body  must  likewise  share  in  it. 
"With  him"  does  not  here  mean  that  Jesus  will  bring  the 
disembodied  spirits  from  heaven  to  the  resurrection,  but  that 
God,  who  brought  Jesus  from  the  grave,  will  also  bring  from 
the  grave,  in  conjunction  with  Jesus,  all  those  who  entered  it 
with  their  lives  spiritually  united  with  Jesus.  But  the  bringing 
from  heaven  is  taught  at  i  Thess.  3:  13.]  15  For  this  we 
say  unto  you  by  the  word  of  the  Lord,  that  w^e  that 
are  alive,  that  are  left  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord, 
shall  in  no  wise  precede  them  that  are  fallen  asleep. 
[The  facts  here  set  forth  were  revealed  to  the  apostle  by  direct 
revelation,  as  at  i  Kings  20:35,  ^^^^  he  had  many  such  revela- 
tions (i  Cor.  11:23;  Gal.  i:  11,  12;  2:2;  Eph.  3:3;  2  Cor. 
12:  i).  Paul  declares  that  the  living  shall  not  go  before  the 
dead  to  meet  the  coming  Lord.  The  "  we  "  in  this  verse  has 
led  many  to  think  that  Paul  expected  to  be  alive  when  Jesus 
came,  but  conversely  the  "us"  at  2  Cor.  4:  14  proves  that  he 
expected  to  be  then  dead,  and  the  schedule  of  events  which 
at  2  Thess.  2:  1-5  he  says  must  take  place  before  the  coming, 
favors  the  latter  view.  The  truth  is,  Paul  uses  "we"  as  a 
mere  word  of  classification,  as  we  might  do  in  a  sentence  like 
this :  "  We  of  the  United  States  now  number  eighty  odd 
million;  a  century  from  now  we  will  number — "  etc.  This 
would  not   imply  that  the  writer  expected   to  be  then  alive. 


THE  RESURRECTION  21 

16  For  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven, 
with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and 
with  the  trump  of  God  ["Himself"  shows  that  the  Lord 
will  not  come  by  messenger,  or  by  representative,  but  in 
person.  Paul  does  not  describe  any  of  the  convulsions  of 
nature  which  accompany  the  advent  (2  Pet.  3:  10 ;  Rev.  20: 
11);  but  he  mentions  three  sounds  which  will  accompany  it, 
for  these  have  to  do  with  the  resurrection  which  he  now  has 
under  discussion.  The  shout  of  Christ  the  King  is  the  signal 
that  the  awful  moment  has  arrived.  Immediately  after  it  the 
voice  of  the  archangel  is  heard  summoning  the  other  angels  to 
the  performance  of  their  duty:  viz.:  the  gathering  of  the 
saints  (Matt.  24: 31 ;  Mark  13: 27),  which  are  just  being 
roused  from  the  slumber  of  death  by  the  trumpet  of  God. 
The  word  "  archangel  "  is  also  used  at  Jude  9,  where  we  are 
told  that  the  archangel's  name  is  Michael.  It  is  used  nowhere 
else  in  Scripture,  and  there  is  no  hint  that  there  is  an  order  or 
class  of  archangels.  Michael  is  the  chief  or  ruler  of  all  the 
angels  (Rev.  12:  7).  The  trumpet  is  called  "trump  of  God," 
because  it  heralds  the  approach  of  God,  and  summons  the 
people  to  meet  him  (Ex.  19:  16-19).  There  is  no  hint  as  to 
who  blows  this  trumpet,  though  it  is  mentioned  several  times 
— I  Cor.  15:  52]:  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first; 

17  then  we  that  are  alive,  that  are  left,  shall  together 
with  them  be  caught  up  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the 
Lord  in  the  air:  and  so  shall  we  ever  be  with  tke 
Lord.  [Some,  mistaking  the  spiritual  resurrection  mentioned 
at  Rev.  20:  4,  5,  for  a  literal  one,  have  thought  that  there  are 
two  resurrections,  one  for  the  righteous  (the  first  resurrection) 
and  one  for  the  wicked  (the  second  resurrection).  Of  course 
such  a  doctrine  is  abhorrent  to  the  idea  of  a  single  hour  of 
judgment,  with  the  saved  upon  the  right  hand  and  the  lost 
upon  the  left,  but  it  shall  be  fully  discussed  in  its  own  place. 
Those  who  hold  this  theory  appeal  to  this  passage  in  proof  of 
it,  reading  it  thus:  "The  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first,  and 
the  dead  out  of  Christ  shall  rise  second."  But  in  order  to 
make  it  read  thus  they  have  supplied  a  correlative  clause  which 


22  FIRST   THESSALONIANS 

is  totally  foreign  to  the  context,  and  which  crowds  out  the 
correlative  which  Paul  himself  has  given;  for  "shall  rise 
first''  is  correlative  with  ''the7i  shall  be  caught  up."  The 
apostle  has  been  drawing  a  comparison,  not  between  the 
righteous  dead  and  the  unrighteous  dead,  but  between  the 
dead  and  the  living  at  the  hour  of  the  advent.  He  began  this 
comparison  at  verse  15,  and  he  here  completes  it  by  showing 
that  the  supposition  that  the  living  would  precede  the  dead  is 
so  contrary  to  the  facts  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  dead  will  be 
raised  before  any  ascension  is  allowed  the  living,  and  then 
after  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  the  living  and  the  dead 
shall  be  caught  up  together  to  meet  the  Lord.  That  glorious 
change,  wherein  the  mortal  puts  on  the  immortal,  as  indicated 
at  I  Cor.  15:  51,  55,  will  no  doubt  be  simultaneous  with  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead.  The  phrase  "caught  up"  implies 
the  sudden  and  irresistible  power  of  God.  We  are  not  to 
understand  that  we  are  to  be  caught  up  with  clouds,  but  that 
we  will  meet  him  who  comes  with  clouds  (Dan.  7:  13;  Rev. 
1:7;  Matt.  24:30).  He  makes  the  clouds  his  chariot  (Ps. 
104:3).  The  term  "air"  is  used  generally  for  the  region 
above  the  earth.  No  doubt  we  will  be  caught  up  far  beyond 
our  atmosphere  into  the  realm  of  pure  space — Eph.  1:3;  2:  2.] 
18  Wherefore  comfort  one  another  with  these  words. 
[Thus  are  we  commanded  to  tell  all  Christians  who  mourn 
that  they  will  meet  their  lost  in  Christ  on  the  day  that  Christ 
appears,  and  that  in  sweet  union  and  communion  they  will 
ever  be  with  him.] 

V.  1  But  concerning  the  times  and  the  seasons, 
brethren,  ye  have  no  need  that  aught  be  written  unto 
you.  [When  Christian  hopes  are  thus  vividly  pictured  forth, 
our  human  nature  naturally  asks,  "When?"  (Luke  21:7). 
The  Thessalonians  had  been  fully  taught  by  Paul  that  the  time 
of  the  Lord's  coming  was  unrevealed  (Matt.  24:36;  Acts 
i:  7),  and  that  therefore  Paul  could  not  enlighten  them  on  this 
point.  The  term  "times"  indicates  long  eras,  and  "seasons" 
the  briefer  epochs  into  which  they  are  divided.]  2  For 
yourselves  know  perfectly  that  the  day' of  the  Lord 


THE   RESURRECTION  23 

so  Cometh  as  a  thief  in  the  night.  [Here  is  an  echo 
from  the  Hps  of  Jesus  (Matt.  24:  36-51  ;  Luke  12:  39,  40).  See 
also  2  Pet.  3:  10;  Rev.  3:  3.  The  coming  of  the  thief  implies 
our  loss,  if  he  catches  us  asleep  and  unprepared.  How  fearful 
our  loss  if  we  are  not  prepared  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord — 
.Heb.  10:  31.]  3  When  they  [the  thoughtless  and  careless] 
are  saying,  Peace  and  safety  [/.  e.,  there  is  no  ground  for 
apprehension],  then  sudden  destruction  cometh  upon 
them,  as  travail  upon  a  woman  with  child ;  and  they 
shall  in  no  wise  escape.  4  But  ye,  brethren,  are  not 
in  darkness,  that  that  day  should  overtake  [surprise] 
you  as  a  thief :  5  for  ye  are  all  sons  of  light,  and 
sons  of  the  day:  we  are  not  of  the  night,  nor  of 
darkness  ;  6  so  then  let  us  not  sleep,  as  do  the  rest 
[the  pagans],  but  let  us  w^atch  and  be  sober.  7  For 
they  that  sleep  sleep  in  the  night;  and  they  that  are 
drunken  are  drunken  in  the  night.  8  But  let  us,  since 
we  are  of  the  day,  be  sober,  putting  on  the  breast- 
plate of  faith  and  love;  and  for  a  helmet,  the  hope 
of  salvation.  [The  idea  that  the  thief  comes  in  the  night  as 
set  forth  in  verse  2  suggests  the  thought  that  those  that  live  in 
the  night  must  find  it  hard  to  guard  against  him.  But  those 
who  live  in  a  perpetual  day  are  not  easily  surprised  by  a  thief. 
Now,  the  Christians,  being  enlightened  as  to  the  Lord's  com- 
ing, lived  in  such  a  perpetual  day  ;  in  fact,  to  use  a  Hebraism, 
they  were  "sons"  of  the  light  and  of  the  day;  i.  e.,  they 
belonged  to  the  day.  There  was  no  need,  therefore,  that 
their  spiritual  faculties  should  be  asleep.  Day  is  no  time  for 
such  sleep,  and  those  that  dwelt  in  it  should  find  it  easy  to 
watch  and  be  sober  and  wear  their  armor  as  good  soldiers, 
while  those  who  dwelt  in  the  night  would  find  it  hard  to  keep 
awake,  to  keep  sober,  or  to  wear  armor.  It  was  common  in 
the  East  for  people  to  be  drunken  in  the  night-time,  as  they 
were  ashamed  to  be  seen  intoxicated  in  the  daylight  (Acts  2: 
15).  The  nights  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  given  to 
revelry,  and  it  was  counted  an  especial  mark  of  profligacy  to 
be  drunken  in  the  daytime  (2  Pet.  2:  13).     Polybius  empha- 


24  FIRST  THESSALONIANS 

sized  the  abandoned  condition  of  a  drunkard  by  saying, 
**Even  by  day  he  was  often  conspicuous  to  his  friends, 
drunk."]  9  For  God  appointed  us  not  unto  wrath,  but 
unto  the  obtaining  of  salvation  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  10  who  died  for  us,  that,  whether  we 
wake  or  sleep  [live  or  die  before  his  coming],  we  should 
live  together  with  him.  [This  verse  is  suggested  by  the 
v^^ord  "salvation"  which  precedes  it.  The  hope  of  salvation 
may  well  defend  us  in  the  hour  of  temptation,  and  it  should  be 
strong  enough  to  do  so,  for  God  has  not  appointed  us  to  be 
lost,  but  to  be  saved,  and  has  given  his  Son  to  die  that  we 
might  be  saved;  and  so,  whether  we  remain  alive  unto  his 
coming,  or  pass  to  our  rest  before  that  day,  we  may  be  assured 
that  we  shall  live  in  one  company  with  him.]  11  Wherefore 
exhort  one  another,  and  build  each  other  up,  even  as 
also  ye  do,  [As  Paul  closed  his  main  teaching  about  his 
Lord's  coming  with  an  injunction  that  the  Thessalonians  com- 
fort each  other  with  it  (chap.  4:  18),  so  he  closes  this  afterpiece 
to  it  with  a  similar  injunction  that  because  of  it  they  should 
exhort  and  strengthen  one  another.]    , 

III. 

CLOSING   ADMONITIONS,   PRAYER   AND   BENE- 
DICTION. 

5:  12-28. 

12  But  w^e  beseech  you,  brethren,  to  know  them 
that  labor  among  you,  and  are  over  you  in  the  Lord, 
and  admonish  you ;  13  and  to  esteem  them  exceeding 
highly  in  love  for  their  work's  sake.  [Paul  here 
admonishes  the  church  as  to  how  it  shall  treat  its  elders.  He 
bids  the  church  recognize  their  leadership,  respect  them,  and 
hold  them  in  affection  because  of  the  blessed  and  divine  work 
which  they  were  discharging,  the  work  being  that  enjoined  by 
the  third  term  of  the  great  commission;  viz.:  admonishing  or 
teaching  the  church  to  observe  all   things  whatsoever   Jesus 


CLOSING  ADMONITIONS  25 

commanded  (Matt.  28:  20).  Such  teaching  is  an  essential 
duty  of  an  elder  (i  Tim.  3:2;  2  Tim.  2:24;  Tit.  1:9), 
This  section  is  closely  connected  with  the  last  verse  of  the 
preceding  one,  the  instruction  of  the  elders  being  the  chief 
means  of  effecting  the  edification  there  mentioned.]  Be  at 
peace  among  yourselves.  [Mark  9:  50.  Contempt  for 
the  instruction  and  authority  of  the  elders  is  the  first  step 
toward  that  strife  and  faction  which  is  here  reproved.]  14 
And  we  exhort  you,  brethren,  admonish  the  disorderly, 
encourage  the  fainthearted,  support  the  weak,  be 
longsuffering  toward  all.  [The  word  "disorderly"  de- 
scribes the  soldier  who  does  not  remain  in  the  ranks ;  it  is  the 
following  out  of  the  military  figure  introduced  at  verse  8.  The 
whole  is  an  admonition  against  a  too  strictly  disciplinarian 
spirit.  The  disorderly  are  not  to  be  too  hastily  considered 
apostates,  nor  are  the  fainthearted  to  be  regarded  as  cowards, 
nor  the  weak  called  backsliders,  nor  are  any  to  be  hastily  cast 
out;  but  the  church,  being  slow  to  condemn,  is  to  bear  with 
offenders,  and  seek  to  reclaim  them.]  15  See  that  none 
render  unto  any  one  evil  for  evil  [Christians  are  repeat- 
edly bidden  to  return  good  for  evil  (Matt.  5:  38-48;  Rom.  12: 
19-21;  I  Pet.  2:  18-25).  ''See  that"  puts  the  Thessalonians 
on  notice  that  the  practice  of  retaUation  or  revenge  was  apt  to 
creep  in  unawares,  and  so  it  was,  for  persecution  wakens 
revenge  as  fire  kindles  fire,  thus  making  two  wrongs  out  of 
one] ;  but  always  follow  after  that  which  is  good,  one 
tow^ard  another,  and  toward  all.  ["Make,"  says  the 
Cambridge  Bible,  "  the  good  of  your  fellow-men  your  constant 
pursuit,  and  let  no  injury  or  unworthiness  on  their  part  turn 
you  aside  from  it.  Revenge  must  be  cherished  neither  toward 
those  within  nor  those  without  the  church,  but  good  must  be 
rendered  to  all— Gal.  6:  10.]  16  Rejoice  always  [A  short 
time  previous  to  Paul's  letter  the  Thessalonian  Christians  had 
all  been  pagans,  and  as  such,  under  similar  conditions  of 
distress  and  persecutions,  would  have  been  apt  to  seek  escape 
from  their  troubles  by  suicide ;  but  now  they  are  bidden  to 
make  their  sufferings  for  Christ  a  source  of  new  joy,  as  Jesus 


26  FIRST   THESSALONIANS 

had  commanded  (Matt.  5:  10-12),  and  as  Paul,  who  practiced 
this  teaching,  had  so  often  enjoined  (Rom.  5:3-5;  2  Cor.  12: 
10).  Confidence  in  the  good  providence  of  God  made  such 
joy  possible— Rom.  8:28];  17  pray  without  ceasing  [This 
not  only  means  to  observe  habitual  seasons  of  prayer,  and  to 
cultivate  a  disposition  to  pray,  but  to  be  ever  in  a  prayerful 
spirit,  to  have  constantly  a  subconsciousness  of  the  presence  of 
God.  Compare  1:9;  12:12;  Eph.  6:18;  Col.  4:2];  18  in 
everj^hing  give  thanks  [not  for  peace  and  prosperity  only, 
but  also  for  affliction  and  persecution  (Acts  5:  41),  and  as  did 
Paul  and  Silas  at  Philippi— Acts  16:25]:  for  this  [the  dis- 
charge of  the  three  duties  just  named]  is  the  will  [desire] 
of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  to  you-ward.  19  Quench  not 
the  Spirit  [as  fire  may  be  smothered  out  by  overwhelming  it 
with  noncombustible  matter,  so  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  breast 
of  a  man  may  be  quenched  by  overloading  the  life  with 
worldly  cares];  20  despise  not  prophesyings  [Prophesy- 
ings  were  instructions  given  through  inspired  men,  and  in- 
cluded moral  and  spiritual  precepts  as  well  as  predictions  as  to 
the  future.  Such  instructors  stood  next  in  rank  to  the  apostles 
(i  Cor.  12:  28).  Compare  also  Eph.  2:  20;  i  Cor.  14:  1-5,  39. 
They  were  neither  to  neglect  to  hear  nor  refuse  to  obey 
prophecy];  21  prove  all  things;  hold  fast  that  which  is 
good  [Sift  the  bad  from  the  good  (i  John  4:  1-13),  and  cherish 
the  good.  To  this  corresponds  the  "unwritten  saying" 
attributed  to  Jesus,  '*  Show  yourselves  approved  money-chang- 
ers;" i.  e.,  distinguish  between  the  true  coin  and  the  counter- 
feit. Surely  such  advice  has  always  been  pertinent,  when 
false  teaching  of  every  kind  abounds];  22  abstain  from 
every  form  of  evil.  [These  words  close  the  sentence ;  the 
full  thought  is  this :  despise  no  prophecy,  but  prove  it ;  if  it  is 
good,  hold  fast  to  it,  but  abstain  from  every  form  of  evil 
teaching  or  practice.]  23  And  the  God  of  peace  himself 
sanctify  you  wholly;  and  may  your  spirit  and  soul 
and  body  be  preserved  entire,  without  blame  at  the 
coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  [May  God,  who 
makes  peace  between  himself  and  mankind,  himself  prepare 


CLOSING  ADMONITIONS  27 

you  for  his  judgment-day,  making  your  entire  being,  in  all  its 
threefold  nature,  fit  to  be  preserved,  and  wholly  above  all 
censure.]  24  Faithful  is  he  that  calleth  you,  who  will 
also  do  it.  [If  God  were  not  thus  faithful  to  sanctify  and 
preserve  blameless,  it  would  be  useless  for  him  to  call  us ;  for 
it  is  certain  that  left  to  ourselves  we  can  not  keep  ourselves 
from  sin  and  evil-doing.  This  faithfulness  is  elsewhere  noted 
(i  Cor.  i:  8,  9 ;  lo:  13 ;  2  Thess.  3:  3  ;  i  John  i:  9);  and  is  the 
basis  of  the  glorious  and  sublime  confidence  expressed  at 
Rom.  8:  31-39.]  25  Brethren,  pray  for  us.  [It  was  Paul's 
habit  to  ask  for  the  prayers  of  those  to  whom  he  wrote  (Rom. 
15:30;  2  Cor.  i:ii;  Eph.  6:19;  Col.  4:3;  2  Thess.  3:1). 
Compare  Heb.  13:  18.  26  Salute  all  the  brethren  with  a 
holy  kiss.  [In  the  East,  a  kiss  was  and  still  is  a  common 
salutation  -among  kindred  and  near  friends.  Paul  did  not,  by 
this  command,  create  a  church  ordinance  or  ceremony;  nor 
did  he  even  create  a  new  custom.  He  merely  injected  a 
spiritual  virtue  into  an  old-established,  time-honored  custom. 
This  custom  never  prevailed  among  the  nations  of  the  West, 
and  we  feel  that  we  obey  Paul  when  we  shake  hands  with 
holiness;  i.  <?.,  with  cordial  sincerity  and  honest  good-will. 
The  Bible  was  not  written  as  a  work  on  etiquette,  nor  was  it 
intended  in  this  case  that  the  Syrian  and  Grecian  custom 
should  become  universal.]  27  I  adjure  you  by  the  Lord 
that  this  epistle  be  read  unto  all  the  brethren.  [The 
importance  of  the  Epistle  is  shown  by  the  solemnity  of  the 
adjuration.  The  command  in  this,  the  first  of  the  Epistles,  is 
fittingly  echoed  in  the  last  written  of  the  New  Testament 
books.  See  Rev.  i:  3.  They  suggest  that  the  New  Testament 
writings  were  to  be  read  in  the  churches,  and  by  all  the 
people,  just  as  the  Old  Testament  was  read  in  the  synagogues. 
*'  What  Paul  commands  with  an  adjuration,"  says  Bengel, 
"Rome  forbids  under  a  curse."]  28  The  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you.  [This  is  the  benediction 
with  which  Paul  closes  most  of  his  Epistles.  It  is  a  prayer 
that  they  may  have  all  the  bkssings  which  the  loving  favor  of 
God  can  bestow.] 


28  SECOND    THESSALONIANS 


SECOND   EPISTLE    TO  THE   THESSA- 
LONIANS 

INTRODUCTION. 

That  the  second  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians  was  written 
very  soon  after  the  first  is  apparent  from  the  fact  that  the 
two  Epistles  show  that  practically  the  same  conditions  existed 
in  that  church,  and  also  from  the  fact  that  Silas  and  Timothy 
join  with  Paul  in  both  letters ;  and  it  can  not  be  shown  that 
these  three  men  were  ever  together  after  the  earlier  part  of 
Paul's  ministry  in  Corinth.  We  would  therefore  date  this 
letter  in  the  latter  part  of  A.  D.  52  or  the  early  part  of 
A.  D.  53.  Jesus  had  left  the  world  about  twenty-three  years 
before,  promising  to  return  at  an  indefinite  date.  This 
indefiniteness  gave  free  scope  to  the  conjectures  of  his  early 
followers,  until  the  clear  teaching  of  his  apostles  brought  about 
a  better  understanding.  There  are  evidences  in  the  first 
Epistle  that  the  Lord's  coming  was  a  subject  of  great  interest 
to  the  Thessalonians.  It  seems  likely  that  at  the  date  of  that 
Epistle  the  disciples  there  were  expecting  the  Lord's  return  in 
the  near  future ;  for  they  were  grieving  over  the  thought  that 
their  loved  ones  who  died  would  thereby  be  cut  off  from  all 
participation  in  the  joys  of  that  coming— a  joy  which  those 
still  living  fully  expected  to  realize.  In  correcting  this  false 
view  as  to  the  dead,  Paul  had  not  thought  it  needful  to  specify 
that  all  would  likely  die  before  the  Lord  came,  since  in  his 
teaching  while  in  Thessalonica  he  had  shown  that  the  events 
which  God  had  decreed  should  intervene  before  the  coming  of 
the  Lord,  were  of  such  a  nature  as  to  necessarily  require  much 
time.  Thus  the  idea  that  the  Lord's  return  would  take  place 
in  the  near  future  remained  uncorrected  by  him,  for  he  was 
not  really  aware  that  it  prevailed.  Moreover,  certain  passages 
in  his  first  Epistle  could  be,  and  evidently  were,  misconstrued 


INTRODUCTION  29 

to  favor  the  idea,  and  were  used  to  foster  and  strengthen  it. 
See  I  Thess.  4:  15,  17;  5:4,  6.  Again,  traditional  sayings  of 
the  apostle  were  appealed  to  in  confirmation  of  this  erroneous 
notion,  and,  as  a  consequence  of  all  this,  the  church  was 
excited  and  troubled.  The  design,  therefore,  of  this  second 
Epistle  was  to  correct  the  error  as  to  the  Lord's  coming,  and 
thus  restore  tranquility  to  the  church.  To  do  this  the  apostle 
reminds  them  of  his  former  instruction,  wherein  he  showed 
that  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  man  of  sin  must  precede  the 
coming  of  the  Lord,  Having  corrected  the  doctrinal  error,  he 
closes  his  Epistle,  as  usual,  with  prayer  and  admonitions  and  a 
benediction. 


30  SECOND    THESSALONIANS 


EXPOSITION   OF   SECOND   THESSA- 
LONIANS. 

I. 

THANKSGIVING  AND  PRAYER  FOR  THE  CHURCH. 
GOD'S  IMPARTIAL  JUDGMENT. 

i:  1-12. 

1  Paul,  and  Silvanus,  and  Timothy,  unto  the  church 
of  the  Thessalonians  in  God  our  Father  and  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ;  2  Grace  to  you  and  peace  from  God  the 
Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  [For  a  similar  salu- 
tation, see  I  Thess.  i:  i.]  3  We  are  bound  to  give  thanks 
to  God  always  for  you,  brethren,  even  as  it  is  meet 
[just],  for  that  your  faith  groweth  exceedingly,  and  the 
love  of  each  one  of  you  all  toward  one  another 
aboundeth  [Paul  acknowledged  himself  obliged  to  give 
thanks  because  his  prayer  at  i  Thess.  9:  13  had  been  answered 
by  the  Thessalonians  doing  the  things  which  he  prayed  they 
might  do.  Thus  he  very  forcefully  recognizes  the  good  in  his 
converts  that  he  may  be  listened  to  with  patience  when  he 
begins  to  correct  their  faults];  4  so  that  we  ourselves 
glory  in  you  in  the  churches  of  God  for  your  patience 
and  faith  in  all  your  persecutions  and  in  the  afflic- 
tions which  ye  endure  [The  faith  and  love  of  the 
Thessalonians  were  such  that,  spontaneously,  of  their  own 
accord,  Paul  and  his  companions  delighted  to  tell  of  it  to  the 
churches  at  Corinth,  Cenchrese  and  in  other  parts  of  Achaia. 
Though  the  persecutions  which  arose  while  Paul  was  in  Thes- 
salonica  were  still  continuing,  yet  they  neither  exhausted  the 
patience  of  the  Christians  so  as  to  drive  them  to  forsake  God, 
nor  their  faith  so  as  to  lead  them  to  mistrust  God.     We  should 


THANKSGIVING  AND  PRAYER  31 

observe  that  the  churches  are  commonly  called,  by  Paul,  as 
here,  churches  of  God,  though  sometimes  churches  of  Christ]; 
5  which  is  a  manifest  token  of  the  righteous  judg- 
ment of  God;  to  the  end  that  ye  may  be  counted 
worthy  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  for  which  ye  also 
suffer:  6  if  so  be  that  it  is  a  righteous  thing  with 
God  to  recompense  affliction  to  them  that  afflict  you, 
7  and  to  you  that  are  afflicted  rest  with  us,  at  the 
revelation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  from  heaven  with  the 
angels  of  his  power  in  flaming  fire,  8  rendering 
vengeance  to  them  that  know  not  God,  and  to  them 
that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  [The 
patience  and  faith  of  the  Thessalonians  were  a  manifest  token 
(z.  e.,  pledge,  proof  or  demonstration)  of  that  coming  day 
wherein  God  will  disclose  the  righteousness  of  his  judgments, 
and  wherein  all  apparent  violations  of  justice  shall  be  rectified 
(Eccl.  3:  16,  17;  Phil.  1:28).  The  purpose  of  this  judgment 
will  be  that  those  who  suffer  for  the  kingdom  of  God  may 
graciously  be  counted  worthy  of  the  heavenly  joys  of  that 
kingdom,  and  that  the  wicked  may  be  punished.  If  it  is  indeed 
a  righteous  thing  (and  who  can  doubt  it?)  for  God  to  recom- 
pense evil  for  evil,  so  that  those  who  afflict  the  righteous  shall 
themselves  be  afflicted,  and  those  who  have  suffered  affliction 
for  righteousness'  sake  may  find  rest  with  their  fellow-Chris- 
tians when  Jesus,  who  is  now  hidden  from  their  sight  in 
heaven,  reveals  himself  to  human  vision  with  the  angels  which 
display  his  power,  and  with  that  flaming  fire  which  at  once 
shows  forth  his  glory  and  consumes  his  enemies  (Heb.  10:  27; 
12:  29),  rendering  vengeance  as  a  great  judge,  not  as  a  resent- 
ful potentate,  to  them  that  willfully  know  not  God — Ex.  5:  2; 
Rom.  1:28;  Luke  12:47,  48;  Rom.  2:14,  15  (principally 
Gentiles),  and  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel  (principally 
Jews) — Rom.  10:  3,  16.  In  verse  6  Paul  draws  a  comparison 
between  the  law  which  forbids  retaliation  to  the  individual 
(Rom.  12:  17),  and  that  which  accords  it  to  all  government, 
especially  the  government  of  God  himself,  under  whose  rule 
unforgiven    iniquity   never   escapes    punishment    (Heb.   2:  2; 


32  SECOND    THESSALONIANS 

Rev.  20:  12).  He  does  this  to  show  that  God  is  under  the 
second  and  not  under  the  first  law.  In  verse  7  we  are 
reminded  that  the  negative  happiness  of  heaven  is  rest  from 
all  afflictions,  sorrows,  pains,  persecutions,  etc.  (Heb.  4: 9 ; 
Rev.  14:  13;  21:  4).  It  is  the  quiet  haven  of  the  storm-tossed 
bark.  Continuing  the  thought,  Paul  says  further  of  the 
objects  of  God's  vengeance — ]:  9  who  shall  suffer  punish- 
ment, even  eternal  destruction  from  the  face  of  the 
Lord  and  from  the  glory  of  his  might,  10  when  he 
shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  to  be 
marvelled  at  in  all  them  that  believed  (because  our 
testimony  unto  you  was  believed)  in  that  day.  [In 
that  day  when  Jesus  comes  to  be  glorified,  those  who  refuse  to 
know  God,  and  those  who  disobey  the  gospel,  shall  receive  a 
punishment  which  is  here  clearly  described  as  eternal.  The 
word  ''destruction"  imports  the  wreck  or  dissolution  of  the 
organism,  but  not  the  annihilation  of  the  essence.  The  rest 
of  the  sentence  implies  banishment  and  separation  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord  with  all  its  joys,  and  from  all  participation 
in  that  manifestation  of  his  power  which  will  show  itself  in  the 
glorification  of  his  redeemed  (Matt.  25:41;  Col.  3:4).  The 
latter  thought  is  expanded  by  Paul  throughout  the  remainder 
of  the  chapter.  In  that  day  Jesus  shall  be  "  marvelled  at  in 
all  them  that  believe,"  because  they  shall  reflect  his  glory  as 
a  mirror  gives  back  the  radiance  of  the  sun  (2  Cor.  3:  18). 
The  parenthesis  ("  because,"  etc.)  is  injected  into  the  thought 
for  the  purpose  of  identifying  the  Thessalonians  with  the 
believers,  and  so  with  the  glorification  promised  to  believers.] 
11  To  which  end  [z.  e.,  with  a  view  to  this  glorious  con- 
summation ;  viz.:  of  being  glorified  in  Christ]  we  also  pray 
always  for  you,  that  our  God  may  count  you  worthy 
of  your  calling,  and  fulfil  every  desire  of  goodness 
and  every  w^ork  of  faith,  with  power ;  12  that  the  name 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  may  be  glorified  in  you,  and  ye  in 
him,  according  to  the  grace  of  our  God  and  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  [Paul  prays  that  the  Thessalonians  may  be 
counted  worthy  of    the   gospel   invitation,  so   that   they   may 


THANKSGIVING  AND  PRAYER  33 

receive,  according  to  the  fullness  of  God's  limitless  power,  all 
the  blessings  to  which  they  have  been  invited;  viz.:  all  the 
graces  and  glories  that  ever  the  goodness  of  God  desired  to 
bestow,  and  every  aspiration  or  heavenly  ideal  for  which  their 
own  faith  prompted  them  to  strive ;  that  thus  their  lives  might 
glorify  Christ,  and  be  glorified  by  Christ,  according  to  the 
gracious  purposes  of  God  in  Christ.  Jesus  is  glorified  in  his 
saints  by  their  reflection,  and  the  saints  are  glorified  in  Jesus 
by  his  impartation  of  his  divine  excellencies.] 

11. 

THE  COMING   OF   CHRIST  AND  OF  ANTICHRIST. 

2:  1-12. 

The  section  before  us  expresses  the  principal  object  of  this 
Epistle,  which  was  to  correct  the  misapprehension  that  the 
Lord  was  about  to  come  at  once.  Without  professing  to  set 
forth  all  the  events  which  would  intervene  between  the  date  of 
his  Epistle  and  the  Lord's  coming,  the  apostle  enumerates 
three:  i.  A  great  apostasy.  2.  The  removal  of  that  power 
which  hindered  the  manifestation  of  the  lawless  one.  3.  The 
manifestation  of  the  lawless  one,  and  his  reign.  Since 
Paul  gives  us  only  a  bird's-eye  view  of  events,  which  covers  a 
very  extended  range  of  history,  it  would  be  injudicious  to  fill 
in  his  outlines  with  elaborate  details.  The  full  outline  of 
prophecy  covering  the  Christian  dispensation  is  given  in  Reve- 
lation, and  will  be  discussed  when  that  book  is  reached. 

II.  1  Now  we  beseech  you,  brethren  [having  just  prayed 
for  the  Thessalonians,  Paul  now  passes  to  entreaties  io  them], 
touching  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  our 
gathering  together  unto  him  [the  final  gathering  (i  Thess. 
4:  17).  He  entreats  them  to  be  soberminded  both  as  to  the 
coming  and  the  gathering,  for  each  of  these  events  had  been 
used  to  generate  error  and  fanaticism — i  Thess.  4:  13  ;  2  Thess. 
3:  11];  2  to  the  end  that  ye  be  not  quickly  shaken 
from   your   mind  [Shaken  is  a  figurative  expression  taken 


34  SECOND    THESSALONIANS 

from  waves  agitated  by  a  storm.  The  minds  of  the  Thessa- 
lonians  having  been  instructed  by  Paul,  and  having  a  thorough 
apprehension  of  the  entire  subject,  ought  not  to  have  been  so 
readily,  and  with  such  small  reason,  confused — Eph.  4:  14], 
nor  yet  be  troubled,  either  by  spirit,  or  by  word,  or  by 
epistle  as  from  us,  as  that  [as  teaching  that]  the  day  of 
the  Lord  is  just  at  hand  [Paul  here  enumerates  the  three 
forces  which  had  produced  the  fanatical  unrest  at  Thessalonica. 
The  first  was  probably  the  cause  of  this  unrest,  and  the  second 
and  third  were  more  likely  used  to  excuse  or  justify  it.  Some, 
highly  wrought  souls,  laboring  under  morbid  excitement,  had 
delivered  exhortations  or  discourses  which  were  professedly 
inspired.  While  these  men  ought  not  to  have  been  despise*d 
without  due  consideration,  neither  ought  they  to  have  been  be- 
lieved without  being  thoroughly  tested  (i  Thess.  5:  20,  21 ;  i 
John  4:  i).  The  Thessalonians,  however,  despite  the  apostle's 
warning,  had  imprudently  accepted  both  the  prophet  and  the 
prophecy,  and  had  permitted,  and  perhaps  aided  and  en- 
couraged, the  justification  of  the  prophecy.  The  prophecy  was 
justified  by  ''words,"  by  which  we  may  understand  misappli- 
cations or  misquotations  either  of  the  apostle's  own  teaching 
while  he  was  with  them,  or  of  the  words  of  Christ  orally  com- 
municated by  him  to  them,  as,  for  instance,  the  sayings  at  Matt. 
16:28;  24:34.  It  was  also  justified  by  a  misuse  of  certain 
phrases  in  Paul's  first  Epistle,  asfor  instance  the  passages  cited 
in  our  introduction.  Commentators  almost  universally  contend 
that  by  the  phrase  "epistle  as  from  us"  Paul  means  a  spurious 
or  forged  epistle  which  had  been  palmed  off  upon  the  church 
as  if  it  had  come  from  him.  In  support  of  this  notion  it  is  urged 
that  if  Paul  had  referred  to  his  first  Epistle  he  would  not  have 
disowned  it,  but  would  have  explained  it.  But  to  this  it  may 
be  answered  that  Paul  does  explain  his  first  Epistle  by  thus 
tersely  and  emphatically  disowning  the  misconstruction  placed 
upon  it.  Against  the  idea  of  forgery,  four  points  may  be  con- 
sidered: I.  Ought  any  of  the  church  at  Thessalonica  to  be  lightly 
accused  of  such  a  fraud  ?  2.  Was  there  any  sufficient  induce- 
ment for  their  committing  such  a  fraud  ?    3.  Was  such  an  event 


THE   COMING   OF  CHRIST  35 

likely  to  be  made  the  subject  of  fraud?  4.  Would  Paul  have 
passed  over  such  a  sacrilegious  outrage  without  a  syllable  of 
rebuke,  while  in  verse  5  he  even  rebukes  their  forgetfulness, 
and  in  verse  14  he  orders  the  excommunication  of  any  man 
who  fails  to  give  heed  to  his  Epistle  ?  Had  there  been  a  for- 
gery we  would  reasonably  have  expected  some  such  language 
as  that  of  Gal.  1:6-12.  Moreover,  had  there  been  a  forgery 
Paul  could  not  have  repudiated  it  without  explanation,  else  his 
repudiation  might  have  been  shrewdly  used  by  the  forgers  to 
cast  discredit  upon  his  first  Epistle.  Paul  taught  that  the  day 
of  the  Lord  was  at  hand  (Rom.  13: 12 ;  Phil.  4:  5),  as  did  other 
of  the  apostles  (i  Pet.  4:  7  ;  Rev.  i:  3),  John  using  a  very  strong 
expression  (John  2:18);  but  the  phrase  *'just  at  hand"  is 
stronger  still ;  it  denotes  an  imminence  nothing  short  of  the 
actual  appearing  of  the  Lord  the  next  instant — an  imminence 
answering  to  the  fanaticism  of  the  Thessalonians,  and  one 
which  Paul  had  not  taught.  In  teaching  us  to  be  always  pre- 
pared for  the  Lord's  coming,  the  Scripture  nowhere  justifies  or 
excuses  us  in  letting  the  thoughts  of  his  coming  absorb  our 
mind,  or  the  expectation  of  his  coming  interfere  with  the  most 
trivial  duty]  ;  3  let  no  man  beguile  you  in  any  wise  :  for 
it  will  not  be,  except  the  falling  away  come  first  [Paul 
uses  the  article  "the"  because  this  apostasy  was  well  known  to 
the  church,  its  coming  having  been  announced  by  Jesus  (Matt. 
24:  10-12),  and  reiterated  by  Paul  while  at  Thessalonica.  This 
apostasy,  or  falling  away,  may  be  defined  to  be  a  desertion  of 
the  true  religion  and  the  true  God],  and  the  man  of  sin  be 
revealed,  the  son  of  perdition  [Literally,  son  of  perishing. 
The  man  of  sin  is  identical  with  the  antichrist  of  i  John  2:  18. 
Though  he  is  distinguished  from  Satan  in  verse  9,  yet  is  he  in 
a  sense  an  incarnation  of  Satan,  for  as  Satan  entered  into  the 
heart  of  Judas  (John  13:  27),  who  was  the  first  great  apostate 
and  son  of  perdition  (John  17:  12),  so  he  shall  enter  into  the 
heart  of  this  second  apostate  and  son  of  perdition,  who  shall  be 
a  man  made  up  of  sin,  a  veritable  manifestation  of  concrete 
wickedness,  and  thus  self-fitted  for  perdition.  The  language 
clearly  shows  that  he  is  a  person,  but  there  is  nothing  to  forbid 


36  SECOND    THESSALONIANS 

us  from  regardiig  him  as  an  official  rather  than  an  individual 
personality,  as,  for  instance,  a  line  of  popes  rather  than  an  in- 
dividual pope.  Those  who  have  denied  the  right  to  thus  con- 
strue his  personality,  have  for  the  most  part  straightway  fallen 
into  the  solecism  of  interpreting  the  phrase  "one  that  re- 
straineth,"  of  verse  7,  so  as  to  make  it  mean  a  line  of  emperors, 
or  succeeding  generations  of  rulers  in  our  human  polity,  or 
some  other  official  personality  that  existed  in  Paul's  day  and 
long  afterward,  though  the  assertion  of  personality  is  as  strong 
in  verse  7  as  it  is  in  verse  3.  Antichrist  does  not  cause  the 
apostasy,  but  is  rather  the  cap-sheaf  of  it,  being  revealed  in 
connection  with  it,  and  exalted  by  it],  4  he  that  opposeth 
and  exalteth  himself  against  all  that  is  called  God  or 
that  is  Avorshipped ;  so  that  he  sitteth  in  the  temple  of 
God,  setting  himself  forth  as  God.  [The  antichrist  will 
be  antagonistic  to  God,  and  will  exalt  himself  as  a  rival  to 
everything  that  is  worshiped,  whether  it  be  king  or  emperor, 
mythical  god  or  true  God,  even  entering,  not  only  into  the 
outer  courts  of  the  temple,  but  penetrating  to  the  inner  sanc- 
tuary, and  taking  his  seat  where  God  alone  has  a  right  to  rest, 
and  there  making  an  arrogant  display  of  himself  as  an  object 
of  worship  (comp.  Acts  12:  21-23).  The  Greek  word  for  "wor- 
ship" is  sebasma  :  from  it  came  Sebastiis  or  Augustus  {i.  <?.,  the 
Worshipful) ,  which  was  the  title  of  the  Roman  emperors.  A  man 
of  that  age  could  hardly  see  this  word  in  such  a  connection  with- 
out thinking  that  Paul  meant  to  convey  the  idea  that  the  anti- 
christ would  arrogate  to  himself  all  the  reverence  then  claimed 
by  the  great  civil  lords  of  the  earth,  such  as  emperors,  kings,  etc. 
The  temple  is  Paul's  favorite  metaphor  for  the  church — i  Cor. 
16:17;  2  Cor.  6:16;  Eph.  2:21.]  5  Remember  ye  not, 
that,  when  I  was  yet  with  you,  I  told  you  these  things? 
[Literally,  was  telling.  He  had  repeated  the  instruction  often, 
and  now  reproves  the  Thessalonians  for  forgetting  what  he  did 
say,  and  being  agitated  by  false  reports  of  what  he  did  not 
say.]  6  And  now  ye  know  [because  Paul  had  told  them 
verbally]  that  which  restraineth  [?.  e.,  retards  and  delays 
the  antichrist],  to  the  end  that  he  may  be  revealed  in 


THE   COMING   OF  CHRIST  37 

his  own  season.  [And  not  prematurely.  Thus  we  see  that 
the  Thessalonians  had  a  key  to  Paul's  prophecy  that  we  do  not 
possess.  His  probable  reason  for  withholding  from  his  Episth 
that  which  he  freely  stated  verbally  will  be  given  later.]  7 
For  the  mystery  of  lawlessness  doth  already  w^ork : 
only  there  is  one  that  restraineth  now,  until  he  be  taken 
out  of  the  way.  [In  verse  6  we  have  a  thing  ("that  which") 
restraining  the  person  of  antichrist,  and  in  this  verse  we  have 
the  thing  ("mystery  of  lawlessness")  which  would  produce  the 
antichrist  restrained  by  2.  person.  This  nicety  of  expression  is 
important,  and  should  be  noted.  The  traces  of  that  spirit 
which  overrules  God's  laws  and  substitutes  its  own  were 
abundant  in  the  church.  It  showed  itself  in  attempts  to  en- 
graft both  Judaism  and  paganism  into  Christianity,  thus  paving 
the  way  for  an  apostasy,  with  a  great  head  apostate.  Romans 
and  Galatians  were  written  to  correct  Judaizing  tendencies, 
and  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  was  an  attempt  to  wean  weak 
Christians  from  the  sensuous  ritualism  of  Moses.  Tendencies 
to  lapse  into  paganism  are  also  frequently  reproved.  See  es- 
pecially Col.  2:  16-23;  I  Cor.  5:  1-8.]  8  And  then  shall  be 
revealed  the  lawless  one  whom  the  Lord  Jesus  shall 
slay  with  the  breath  of  his  mouth,  and  bring  to  nought 
by  the  manifestation  of  his  coming  [After  the  removal  of 
the  hinderer,  the  vague  spirit  or  mystery  of  lawlessness  will 
become  an  embodied  personality — a  Christ-rival.  At  the  mere 
thought  of  his  thus  being  revealed,  Paul,  in  his  fervent  zeal  for 
Christ,  at  once  announces  the  triumph  of  the  Lord  over  this 
adversary,  though  he  has  not  yet  finished  describing  him.  In 
the  next  verse  we  shall  find  the  apostle  returning  to  tell  what 
manner  of  ruler  the  antichrist  was  to  be,  and  the  quality  and 
destiny  of  those  who  should  follow  him.  "Breath,"  etc.,  does 
not  mean  that  Jesus  shall  slay  antichrist  by  converting,  and 
thus  cutting  ofif,  his  followers;  for  "breath"  does  not  signify 
God's  truth  or  instruction,  but  the  execution  of  his  judgment 
(2  Sam.  22:16;  Job  4:  9;  15:30;  Isa.  11:4;  30:27-33).  The 
manifestation  (Greek,  epipha?ty)  of  his  coming  is  undoubtedly 
the  divine  excellency,  radiance,  glory  and  sublimity  of  the  re- 


38  SECOND    THESSALONIANS 

vealed  Godhead;  for  the  word  "epiphany"  conveys  this  idea 
(Tit.  2:13;  I  Tim.  6:14-16;  comp.  Rev.  20:11).  The  de- 
struction of  antichrist  will  be  caused  by  the  judgment  of  God, 
and  be  effected  by  the  appearing  of  God.  The  manifestation 
of  the  real  and  perfect  will  stand  in  awful,  consuming  contrast 
to  the  revelation  of  the  sham  and  lie]  ;  9  even  he,  whose 
coming  is  according  to  the  working  of  Satan  with  all 
power  and  signs  and  lying  w^onders  [To  give  full  force 
to  the  Greek  we  should  here  translate  "all  lying  power,  all 
lying  signs,  all  lying  wonders."  Antichrist  shall  employ  the 
methods  of  Satan,  and  shall  prove  his  claims  by  false  miracles, 
like  those  of  Jannes  and  Jambres — Ex.  7:  10-13;  2  Tim.  3: 
1-8],  10  and  with  all  deceit  of  unrighteousness  for 
them  that  perish ;  because  they  received  not  the  love 
of  the  truth,  that  they  might  be  saved.  [Antichrist 
comes  with  lies,  to  those  who  love  not  the  truth  as  to  right 
and  wrong,  etc.,  that  they  may  be  saved  by  it;  but  sentence 
themselves  to  perish  by  preferring  that  deception  leading  to  un- 
righteousness—which makes  unrighteousness  appear  the  better 
course.]  11  And  for  this  cause  God  sendeth  them  a 
working  of  error  [the  threefold  working  of  error  mentioned 
in  verse  9],  that  they  should  believe  a  lie  :  12  that  they 
all  might  be  judged  who  believed  not  the  truth,  but  had 
pleasure  in  unrighteousness.  [God  permits  Satan  to  pre- 
sent Hes  to  those  who,  because  of  their  love  for  sin,  desire  to  be 
deceived  (Deut.  13:  1-5).  Having  given  our  exposition  of  the 
above  passage,  we  should  like  also  to  give  a  history  of  its  ex- 
position, but  must  content  ourselves  with  referring  the  reader 
to  those  given  by  Newton,  Lunemann,  Alford,  Gloag,  etc. 
We  should  like  also  to  discuss  the  theory  of  most  commen- 
tators who  identify  the  man  of  sin  with  the  beast  at  Rev.  13, 
and  the  Roman  Empire  with  the  red  dragon  at  Rev.  11  and  12, 
and  who  find  in  the  Antiochus  of  Daniel  the  prototype  of  this 
lawless  one.  See  Newton  on  the  Prophecies,  Dissertation  22. 
But  we  will  content  ourselves  with  the  presentation  of  the  anti- 
christ, and  remarks  on  this  prophecy.  The  term  "antichrist" 
conveys  not  only  the  idea  n{  one  who  is  opposed  to  Christ,  but 


THE   COMING   OF  CHRIST  39 

also  of  one  who  is  the  a?itithesis  of  Christ.  This  latter  idea 
has  been  touched  upon,  but  not  fully  developed.  The  anti- 
christ is  a  counterfeit  or  caricature  of  Christ,  and  his  life  is  an 
elaborate  parody  of  that  part  of  the  Christ  life  which  may 
be  so  contradicted,  contorted  and  adapted  so  as  to  comport 
with  worldly  ambition.  The  antichrist  is  the  personification 
of  sin  (verse  3),  whereas  Christ  is  the  incarnation  of  righteous- 
ness (Acts  3:  14).  He  is  the  son  of  perdition  (verse  3),  just  as 
Jesus  is  the  Prince  of  life  (Acts  3:  14).  He  opposes  his  will 
against  God,  and  exalts  himself  against  God,  and  enthrones 
himself  in  the  temple  of  God,  and  displays  himself  as  God 
(verse  4),  while  Jesus  resigned  himself  to  the  Father's  will 
(Luke  22: 42)  and  humbled  himself  in  complete  obedience 
(Phil.  2:  5-8),  and,  though  truly  claiming  to  be  divine  (John 
14:  8-1 1),  waited  until  he  was  exalted  of  God  (Phil.  2:  9),  when 
he  sat  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  majesty  in  the  true  temple 
on  high,  because  he  was  divine  (Heb.  i:  3-5  ;  8:  i,  2).  Anti- 
christ has  a  season  or  time  for  revelation  (verse  6),  just  as  Jesus 
had  (Gal.  4:  4),  and  still  has  a  proper  time  for  revealing  him- 
self (Acts  i:  6,  7).  He  first  exists  as  a  mystery,  and  then  has 
his  open  revelation  (Greek,  apocalypse) — verses  7,  and  2,  6,  8 ; 
and  so  also  did  Jesus  (Rom.  16:  25,  26).  Moreover,  as  a  mys- 
tery the  antichrist  existed  as  lawlessness,  and  finally  came  forth 
the  lawless  one,  while  Jesus  was  first  concealed  in  the  mysteri- 
ous types  of  the  law  (John  5:46;  Rom.  3:21,  22),  and  was 
born  under  the  law  (Gal.  4:  4)  and  was  the  very  incarnation 
of  law  (Rom.  10:4;  Matt.  5:  17,  18),  and  is  the  mystery  of 
godliness  (i  Tim.  3:  16).  He  has  a  coming  (Greek,  parousia) 
—verse  9,  just  as  Christ  has  (verse  8).  His  coming  is  accord- 
ing to  the  working  of  Satan  with  lying  power,  signs  and  won- 
ders (verse  9),  while  Jesus  came  after  the  working  of  God 
(John  5:  19,  20;  Eph.  i:  19,  20),  with  God's  real  powers,  signs 
and  wonders — Acts  2:  22  ("powers"  being  translated  "mighty 
works").  With  these  lying  miracles  he  estabHshed  an  anti- 
gospel,  formed  in  the  deceit  of  unrighteousness  and  producing 
death  (verse  10) ;  while  Jesus,  as  is  shown  by  the  same  verse, 
brought  the  gospel  of  truth  that  men  might  be  saved.     And 


40  SECOND    THESSALONIANS 

finally,  his  kingdom  rests  on  belief — the  belief  of  a  lie  (verse 
ii) — just  as  Christ's  rests  upon  the  belief  of  the  truth.  Thus, 
step  by  step,  the  antichrist  parodies  the  glories,  but  not  the 
humiliations  of  the  Christ,  but  he  fails  to  rise  to  the  last  step, 
for  he  has  no  manifestation  (Greek,  epiphany)  answering  to 
that  which  Christ  has,  as  shown  by  verse  8.  That  is  to  say, 
he  has  no  divinity  to  subdue  all  things  by  the  outburst  of  its 
glory.  He  can  assume  the  figure  of  Christ,  but  can  not  rival 
Christ  trafis figured.  In  interpreting  this  passage  commenta- 
tors divide  themselves  into  three  parties:  i.  Those  who  think 
the  prophecy  long  since  fulfilled.  2.  Those  who  regard  it  as  in 
process  of  fulfillment.  3.  Those  who  look  upon  it  as  yet  to  be 
fulfilled  in  the  future.  The  first  class  fail  to  note  that  tile 
antichrist  is  to  be  destroyed  by  the  epiphany  of  Christ's  com- 
ing. Hence  antichrist  can  not  have  come  and  gone,  since  this 
epiphany  is  yet  to  take  place.  The  great  body  of  Protestant 
commentators  are  found  in  the  second  class,  who  look  upon 
the  long  line  of  popes  as  the  antichrist,  and  the  church  of  Rome 
as  the  apostasy.  The  third  class,  of  whom  Alford  and  Olshau- 
sen  are  exponents,  look  upon  the  pope  as  a  prefiguration  or 
forerunner  of  the  antichrist,  having  many  of  his  characteris- 
tics, but  not  filling  up  all  the  Scripture  details  by  which  he  is 
d-escribed;  Olshausen  urging  that  the  pope  can  not  be  anti- 
christ, because,  contrary  to  John  2:  22,  he  confesses  that  Jesus 
is  the  Christ ;  and  Alford  objecting  on  the  two  grounds  that  the 
pope  does  not  oppose  God,  and  exalt  himself  above  God,  ac- 
cording to  verse  4,  for  the  pope  is  found  to  be  very  worshipful; 
and  because  the  Papacy  has  existed  for  some  fifteen  hundred 
years,  and  Christ  has  not  yet  come,  though  the  revelation  of 
the  antichrist  is  to  immediately  precede  the  coming  of  Christ. 
Taking  up  these  three  objections  in  their  order,  we  would  note, 
first,  that  a  mere  verbal,  formal  or  ceremonial  confession  of 
Christ  certainly  will  not  relieve  any  one  from  being  charged  by 
the  Spirit  with  having  denied  Christ.  To  really  confess  Jesus 
as  Christ,  is  to  look  to  him  as  the  supreme  Priest,  to  be  guided 
by  him  as  the  all-authoritative  Prophet  or  Teacher,  to  be  ruled 
h,y   him   utterly   as   the  divine  and  absolute  King.     Does  the 


THE    COMING   OF  CHRIST  41 

pope's  confession  answer  to  this?  Secondly,  the  language  of 
verse  4  should  not  be  so  strained  as  to  make  it  stronger  than 
it  is.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  antichrist  is  a  man,  and 
not  a  deity,  and  hence  his  opposition  to  God,  exaltation  of  self 
against  God,  etc.,  must  be  such  as  is  possible  to  man.  Alford 
so  construes  verse  4  as  to  demand  not  only  one  who  lifts  him- 
self against  God,  but  even  above  God,  so  as  to  make  himself 
the  sole  object  of  worship.  But  Whedon  justly  remarks,  "If 
this  prophecy  is  to  wait  for  a  being  who  literally  exalts  himself 
above  the  Omnipresent  and  Omnipotent,  it  waits  for  an  im- 
possibility." Moreover,  in  permitting  the  worship  of  saints  and 
of  the  virgin,  the  pope  does  not  avoid  the  charge  of  opposing 
all  that  is  worshiped,  for  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  very 
spirit^  of  worship  demands  an  unseen  element.  If  the  pope 
should  entirely  deny  all  the  unseen,  then  worship  itself  would 
be  at  an  end.  Since  he  must  permit  some  continuance  of  this 
unseen  element  or  defeat  his  own  purposes,  he  contents  him- 
self with  dictating  as  to  it,  deciding  for  himself  in  what  it 
shall  consist.  Too  rigorous  a  denial  of  all  worship  would 
destroy  that  which  he  seeks  to  parody,  and  obliterate  his  title 
as  antichrist.  Lastly,  the  third  objection,  that  the  Papacy  has 
existed  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  carries  no  weight ;  for  the 
word  '*  immediately,"  on  which  Alford  founds  it,  is  neither  in 
the  text  nor  in  the  thought,  and  prophecy  has  very  little  per- 
spective at  best.  It  is  sufficient  that  the  Papacy  still  exists, 
and  if  it  continues  to  exist  till  the  Lord  comes,  and  is  brought 
to  naught  by  that  event,  it  will  fulfill  that  part  of  the  prophecy 
under  consideration.  In  short,  while  we  will  not  attempt  to 
say  that  the  final  form  of  antichrist.  Papal  or  otherwise,  may 
not  exceed  in  wickedness  all  that  we  have  yet  seen  (for  proph- 
ecies are  certainly  iterative),  yet  we  are  constrained  to  contend 
that  if  no  other  form  appears,  the  Papacy  has  already  fulfilled 
the  prophecy,  for  it  agrees  in  all  the  points,  as  follows:  i.  It 
has  one  official  man  ever  at  its  head,  and  the  arrogancy  of  its 
claims  are  centered  in  him.  2.  That  man  came  with  and  out 
of  an  apostasy,  and  the  very  kind  of  an  apostasy  which  Paul 
elsewhere  describes  (i  Tim.  4:  1-3 ;  2  Tim.  3:  1-9).     Can  that 


42  SECOND    THESSALONIANS 

apostacy  exist  for  all  these  centuries,  and  antichrist  be  still 
unborn  of  it?  3,  The  spiritual  pride  and  lawlessness  which 
worked  and  would  have  produced  antichrist  in  Paul's  day,  was 
curbed  by  the  person  of  the  Caesar  whose  superior  spiritual 
pride  and  lawlessness  restrained  that  of  the  church  by  con- 
tempt and  persecution.  4.  When,  notwithstanding  the  over- 
shadowing emperor,  the  bishops  of  Rome  began  to  assert 
themselves  spiritually,  they  were  still  checked  and  restrained 
from  revealing  themselves  as  earthly  potentates  by  the  tern- 
poral  power  of  the  empire,  just  as  the  language  of  verses 
6  and  7  so  carefully  distinguishes.  5.  When  the  power 
of  the  Roman  Empire  was  taken  away,  the  pope  appeared, 
and  has  since  been  unceasingly  in  evidence.  Paul's  readers 
could  readily  see  how  the  emperor  and  the  empire  would 
check  the  antichrist;  but  Paul  could  not  openly  write  that 
emperor  and  empire  were  to  fall,  for,  had  he  done  so,  the 
Romans  would  have  appealed  to  his  words  as  affording  a  just 
cause  for  persecuting  the  church.  So  thought  Tertullian 
(A.  D.  150-240),  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  (315-386),  Ambrose 
(340-397),  Jerome  (342-420),  Chrysostom  (347-407),  Augustine 
(354-430),  etc.  6.  The  pope  is  careful  to  keep  up  his  line  of 
succession,  so  as  to  establish  his  identity  and  claims ;  and 
arising  out  of  the  fall  of  Rome  and  the  apostasy  of  the 
church,  which  accompanied  that  event,  he  has  continued  for 
centuries  with  little  change,  and  certainly  none  for  the  better. 
7.  He  exalts  himself  against  God  and  Christ,  calling  himself 
the  vicar,  or  infalHble  substitute  for  Christ,  and  permitting  and 
encouraging  his  followers  to  speak  of  him  thus :  '*  Our  Lord 
God  the  Pope,  another  God  upon  earth  .  .  .  doeth  whatsoever 
he  listeth,  even  things  unlawful,  and  is  more  than  God." 
Under  these  titles  he  presumes  to  set  aside  divine  laws  in 
favor  of  his  own.  Thus  as  a  substitute  person  he  makes  sub- 
stitute laws,  and  arrogates  to  himself  divine  power,  as  did 
Pope  Clement  VI.  when  he  commanded  the  angels  to  admit 
certain  souls  to  paradise.  8.  He  sits  in  the  temple  of  God, 
/.  e.y  he  has  his  sphere  of  dominion  in  the  church,  and  the 
temple  or  church  which  he  occupies  is  still  a  temple  erected  to 


THE   COMING   OF  CHRIST  43 

God,  albeit  the  Spirit  and  presence  of  God  may  have  long 
since  departed  from  it.  9.  He  proves  his  supreme  claims  by 
fraudulent  miracles,  signs  and  wonders;  of  which  cures 
effected  by  relics  and  shrines  and  pictures;  prayers,  made 
effectual  by  blessed  beads;  indulgences;  souls  prayed  out  of 
purgatory  for  money  ;  absolution,  and  transubstantiation  are 
fair  samples.] 

III. 

THANKSGIVING,  PRAYER,   EXHORTATION  AND 
BENEDICTION. 

2:  13-3:  18. 

13  But  -we  are  bound  to  give  thanks  to  God  always 
for  you,  brethren  beloved  of  the  Lord,  for  that  God 
chose  you  from  the  beginning  unto  salvation  in  sanc- 
tification  of  the  Spirit  and  belief  of  the  truth  [From 
the  sad  picture  of  those  who,  through  love  of  unrighteousness, 
were  given  over  to  the  working  of  error  unto  perishing,  Paul 
turns  to  give  thanks  for  the  Thessalonians,  who  were  chosen 
from  the  beginning  (though  Gentiles)  unto  salvation — a  salva- 
tion which  is  worked  out  on  the  divine  side  in  the  sanctification 
of  the  Spirit,  and  on  the  human  side  in  the  belief  of  the  truth. 
From  the  beginning  God  had  determined  that  the  Gentiles 
should  be  saved,  and  had  arranged  his  plans  to  that  end — 
Rom.  9:  23-26 ;  Eph.  3:  5,  6]:  14  whereunto  he  called  you 
through  our  gospel,  to  the  obtaining  of  the  glory  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  [To  this  working  of  salvation  God 
had  called  the  Thessalonians,  not  by  an  arbitrary  election,  but 
by  the  gospel  which  Paul  had  preached  to  them,  and  he  had 
called  them  that  they  might  be  possessors,  or  sharers,  in  the 
glory  of  Christ— ''joint  heirs"  with  him — Rom.  8:  17.]  15  So 
then,  brethren,  stand  fast  [in  contrast  to  being  shaken,  as 
stated  in  verse  2],  and  hold  the  traditions  which  ye  were 
taught,  whether  by  word,  or  by  epistle  of  ours.  [God 
was  doing  his  part  in  calling  and  in  sanctifying,  and  so  the 
Thessalonians    are    here    exhorted    to   do   their  part  in  firmly 


44  SECOND    THESSALONIANS 

adhering  to  the  truth  which  they  had  beheved.  For  if  one 
would  hold  the  gospel  salvation  he  must  hold  the  gospel  truths. 
These  truths  are  here  called  traditions;  for,  though  inspired 
truths,  they  were  as  yet  falling  from  the  lips  of  living  men, 
and  were  not  yet  reduced  to  writing,  though  we  see  by  these 
two  epistles  of  Paul  that  the  New  Testament  record  was  in 
process  of  construction.]  16  Now  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
himself,  and  God  our  Father  who  loved  us  and  gave  us 
eternal  comfort  and  good  hope  through  grace,  17  com- 
fort your  hearts  and  establish  them  in  every  good 
w^ork  and  word.  [Paul,  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  was  en- 
deavoring to  comfort  and  establish  the  Thessalonians  in  their 
words  and  deeds,  and  he  here  prays  that  Christ  himself  and 
God  the  Father  may  thus  comfort  and  establish  them ;  and  he 
describes  the  Father  as  one  who  loved  them  (John  3:  16),  and 
through  mere  grace  had  given  them  the  means  of  never  failing 
consolation,  and  a  good  hope  of  a  final  salvation,  which  is  more 
than  consolation.] 

III.  1  Finally,  brethren,  pray  for  us,  that  the  word  of 
the  Lord  may  run  and  be  glorified,  even  as  also  it  is 
with  you  [Here,  as  elsewhere,  Paul  asks  for  the  prayers  of 
the  disciples  (i  Thess.  5:  25  ;  Eph.  6:  9;  the  request  at  Col.  4: 
2,  3,  being  very  similar.  The  unselfishness  of  his  request 
should  be  noted.  He  asks  nothing  for  himself,  but  desires  that 
the  truth  may  prosper  in  his  hands  elsewhere,  as  it  was  now  pros- 
pering in  Thessalonica.  He  speaks  of  the  Word  as  a  thing  of  life 
(comp.  Ps.  19:  5  ;  147:  15  ;  2  Tim.  2:  9) ;  for  the  Word,  being 
energized  of  God,  approaches  a  living  personality.  The  Word  is 
glorified  when  it  saves  souls  (Acts  13:  48).  Possibly  there  is 
here  an  allusion  to  the  applause  of  the  people  when  a  racer 
wins  his  race] ;  2  and  that  w^e  may  be  delivered  from  un- 
reasonable and  evil  men  ;  for  all  have  not  faith.  [?.  e., 
all  professed  Christians  are  not  really  such.  A  phrase  answer- 
ing to  that  at  Rom.  9:  6.]  3  But  the  Lord  is  faithful,  who 
shall  establish  you,  and  guard  you  from  the  evil  one. 
[Evidently  Paul,  while  at  Corinth,  met  with  some  of  the  false 
brethren  of  whom  he  speaks  (2  Cor.  11:  13,  26).    These  refused 


THANKSGIVING  AND  PRAYER  45 

to  be  moved  by  argument  or  persuasion,  and  were  evil  and 
without  faith  ;  that  is,  faithless,  insincere,  as  the  word  means 
at  Matt.  23:  23 ;  Tit.  2:  10.  These  false  brethren  no  doubt 
added  greatly  to  Paul's  distress,  though  he  was  already  suffer- 
ing, or  about  to  suffer,  persecution  at  the  hands  of  the  Jews 
(Acts  18:  12),  In  asking  prayers  for  deliverance  from  these, 
Paul  joyfully  pauses  to  contrast  this  his  fellowship  with  false 
brethren,  with  the  condition  of  the  Thessalonians  who  were  in 
the  fellowship  of  that  faithful  God  who  would  establish  them 
and  guard  them  from  the  evil  one.]  4  And  we  have  confi- 
dence in  the  Lord  touching  you,  that  ye  both  do  and 
will  do  the  things  w^hich  w^e  command.  [The  faith- 
fulness of  God  to  supply  power  and  protection  gave  the  apostle 
confidence  that  the  Thessalonians  were  living  in  obedience  to 
his  instructions,  and  would  continue  to  so  live.]  5  And  the 
Lord  direct  your  hearts  into  the  love  of  God,  and  into 
the  patience  of  Christ.  [From  expressions  of  confidence  in 
God,  Paul  easily  passes  to  prayer  to  him,  that  the  Thessaloni- 
ans may  be  led  to  love  him,  and  to  exercise  in  their  trials  and 
persecutions  the  patience  which  Christ  exhibited  under  un- 
paralleled suffering.  To  love  God,  together  with  the  brotherly 
love  which  they  already  possessed  (i  Thess.  4:9,  10),  consti- 
tuted a  fulfillment  of  the  law  (Matt.  22:  37-40;  Rom.  13:  10), 
and  hence  led  to  acceptable  obedience.]  6  Now  we  com- 
mand you  [because  confident,  as  we  have  just  said,  that  you 
will  obey],  brethren  [not  the  ofificers,  but  the  whole  church], 
in  the  name  of  [by  the  authority  of]  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that  ye  w^ithdraw  yourselves  from  [abstain  from 
your  habitual  fellowship  with]  every  brother  that  walketh 
disorderly,  and  not  after  the  tradition  [Christian  rules  of 
life]  which  they  received  of  us.  [Paul  does  not  specify 
any  particular  disorder,  but  the  next  verse  shows  that  he  had  a 
special  reference  to  parasitical  idleness.]  7  For  yourselves 
know^  how^  ye  ought  to  imitate  us :  for  we  behaved  not 
ourselves  disorderly  among  you  ;  8  neither  did  we  eat 
bread  for  nought  [gratis,  without  compensation]  at  any 
man's  hand,  but  in  labor  and  travail,  working  night 


46  SECOND    THESSALONIANS 

and  day,  that  we  might  not  burden  any  of  you  [i  Thess. 
2:  9]  :  9  not  because  we  have  not  the  right  [to  demand 
support  while  preaching — Luke  10:  7;  i  Cor.  9:  1-18],  but  to 
make  ourselves  an  ensample  unto  you,  that  ye  should 
imitate  us.  [Many  of  the  Thessalonian  converts  were  from 
the  laboring  classes.  Now,  laborers  in  that  day  were  brought 
into  competition  with  slave-labor,  and  hence  were  disposed  to 
look  upon  all  manual  work  as  degrading.  This  false  view  of 
life  was  the  main  influence  which  produced  that  vast  multitude 
of  parasites  that  then  swarmed  in  every  large  city  of  the  empire. 
To  correct  this  mistaken  pride,  and  to  restore  labor  to  its  just 
dignity,  Paul  had  made  tents  and  supported  himself  by  his  hands 
while  at  Thessalonica.  For  these  and  other  reasons  he  had 
also  waived  his  right  to  support  and  had  sustained  himself  while 
at  Corinth  (Acts  18:3;  2  Cor.  11:9)  and  at  Ephesus  (Acts 
20:  34).  But  notwithstanding  his  example  and  instruction,  and 
despite  his  written  rebuke  (i  Thess.  4:  11,  12),  idleness  appears 
to  have  increased  rather  than  diminished;  so  the  apostle  here 
devotes  some  space  to  it.]  10  For  even  when  we  were 
with  you  [and  so  even  before  we  wrote  you  our  first  epistle], 
this  w^e  commanded  you,  If  any  will  not  w^ork,  neither 
let  him  eat.  [This  precept  is  founded  on  Gen.  3:  19.  It  forbids 
the  Christian  to  exercise  that  false  charity  which  genders  beg- 
gary and  becomes  the  parent  of  manifold  crime.]  11  For  we 
hear  [probably  by  the  returning  messenger  who  carried  his 
first  epistle]  of  some  that  w^alk  among  you  disorderly, 
that  work  not  at  all,  but  are  busybodies.  [A  paranoma- 
sia,  or  play  on  words;  "work"  and  "busybodies"  being  cog- 
nate; so  it  may  be  translated,  "who  have  no  business,  and  yet 
are  busy  with  everybody's  business" — such  as  lead  a  lounging, 
gadding,  gossiping,  meddlesome  life.]  12  Now  them  that 
are  such  we  command  and  exhort  [mixing  entreaty  with 
authority]  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  with  quiet- 
ness they  work,  and  eat  their  own  [this  word  is  emphatic] 
bread.  13  But  ye  [who  stand  in  contrast  to  the  disorderly], 
brethren,  be  not  weary  [lose  not  heart]  in  well-doing. 
[A  general  exhortation  as  to  all  well-doing.     As  applied  to  the 


THANKSGIVING  AND  PRAYER  47 

parasites,  it  might  mean  that  disgust  at  them  should  not  dis- 
courage true  charity.  The  great  body  of  commentators,  in- 
cluding the  ablest,  attribute  this  idleness  to  the  erroneous 
notion  that  the  Lord  was  about  to  come  ;  but  there  is  no  hint 
of  this  in  the  text ;  and  we  find  the  idleness  existing  when 
Paul  wrote  them  his  first  Epistle,  though  there  was  then  no 
such  exciting  expectation.  Moreover,  such  expectations  as  to 
the  Lord's  coming  have  often  been  repeated  in  history,  and 
have  not  been  found  to  be  very  productive  of  idleness,  and 
certainly  not  in  that  "busybody"  form  which  is  here  rebuked. 
On  the  whole,  it  is  best  to  suppose  that  the  Christian  spirit  of 
love  opened  the  hearts  of  the  wealthy  to  liberal  charities,  and 
the  parasitical  tendency,  always  strong,  took  advantage  of  it.] 
14  And  if  any  man  obeyeth  not  our  "word  by  this  epis- 
tle, note  that  man,  that  ye  have  no  company  [fellowship] 
with  him,  to  the  end  that  he  may  be  ashamed.  [By 
noting  your  moral  indignation,  and  seeing  his  conduct  repudi- 
ated by  the  church.]  15  And  yet  count  him  not  as  an 
enemy,  but  admonish  him  as  a  brother.  [They  were  not 
to  give  him  the  complete  estrangement  of  Matt.  i8:  17.  The 
purpose  of  discipline  is  to  save  (i  Cor.  5:  5).  It  is  medicine  for 
curing,  not  poison  for  killing ;  it  is  not  to  gratify  the  hatred  of 
the  judge,  but  to  admonish  the  offender  who  is  judged  (Gal. 
6:  i).  Yet  the  safety  of  the  church  sometimes  demands  com- 
plete excommunication.]  16  Now  the  Lord  of  peace  him- 
self give  you  peace  at  all  times  in  all  ways.  [Peace 
outward  and  inward,  for  time  and  for  eternity.]  The  Lord 
be  with  you  all.  17  The  salutation  of  me  Paul  with 
mine  own  hand,  which  is  the  token  in  every  epistle : 
so  I  write,  [/.  e.,  this  is  my  penmanship.]  18  The  grace 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  w^ith  you  all.  [This,  like 
most  of  Paul's  Epistles,  was  dictated.  Verses  17  and  18  were 
writtten  by  Paul's  own  hand,  this  being  a  guarantee  of  the 
Epistle's  genuineness,  just  as  our  signatures  are  to-day.  With 
some  slight  variation  of  form,  "grace"  closes  all  Paul's  Epistles, 
and  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.] 


48     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 


FIRST   EPISTLE    TO    THE   CORIN- 
THIANS. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The  Corinth  of  Paul's  day  was  a  comparatively  new  city, 
with  a  population  of  about  400,000.  The  old  Corinth,  so 
famous  and  powerful  in  the  days  of  the  Peloponnesian  war, 
had  been  burned  by  the  Roman  consul,  L.  Mummius,  B.  C. 
146,  and,  having  lain  a  desolation  for  a  century,  had  been 
rebuilt  by  Julius  Caesar,  A.  D.  46,  as  a  token  of  respect  to 
Venus,  its  patron  goddess ;  for  Caesar  claimed  a  mythical 
descent  from  her.  He  had  colonized  it  largely  with  Roman 
freemen,  so  that  its  population  was  very  heterogeneous ; 
though  the  Greeks  stamped  their  character  upon  the  inhabit- 
ants generally,  and  Corinth  became  the  Vanity  Fair  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  its  citizens  being  dishonest,  voluptuous,  litig- 
ious, speculative,  suspicious,  factious,  volatile  and  excessively 
egotistic.  The  chastity  of  our  age  wisely  forbids  us  to  unveil 
the  profligacy  and  licentiousness  of  this  hotbed  of  vice,  with 
its  richly  endowed  temple  of  Venus,  supporting  a  thousand 
priestesses  dedicated  to  harlotry,  so  that  even  in  that  dark  age 
Corinth  had  a  bad  name.  Discouraging  as  the  field  was,  Paul 
entered  it  alone,  and  was  there  for  three  months  before  Silas 
and  Timothy  joined  him.  However,  he  found  there  Aquila 
and  Priscilla,  and  their  companionship  strengthened  him 
greatly.  Paul  reasoned  in  the  Jewish  synagogue  until  Silas 
and  Timothy  came,  after  which  the  hostility  of  the  Jews  drove 
him  to  the  house  of  Justus,  and  afterwards  arraigned  him 
before  Gallio.  After  a  year  and  a  half  of  labor  in  Corinth,  an 
account  of  which  will  be  found  at  Acts  18:  1-17,  Paul  returned 
to  Antioch  by  way  of  Jerusalem,  and  setting  out  on  his  third 
missionary  journey,  came  to  Ephesus,  where  he  sojourned  for 
three  years,  during  which   time    he  probably  visited   Corinth 


INTRODUCTION  49 

once,  and  wrote  an  Epistle  which  is  now  lost,  and  which 
is  older  than  this  which  we  call  his  first  Epistle.  Before 
Paul's  arrival  at  Ephesus,  the  eloquent  Apollos,  having  been 
there  more  fully  instructed  by  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  came  to 
Corinth,  gained  great  popularity,  and  gathered  many  converts. 
Then  Apollos  joined  Paul  at  Ephesus,  and  after  his  departure 
the  church  at  Corinth  divided  into  factions,  some  claiming  to 
be  followers  of  Paul,  and  others  of  Apollos,  and  others  of 
Peter,  and  others  of  Christ.  The  Petrine  faction  was  likely 
formed  by  Judaizers  who  habitually  exalted  Peter  to  disparage 
Paul.  These  may  have  been  added  to  the  church  by  letter  (2 
Cor.  3:  i).  But  it  is  possible  that  Peter  himself  may  have  been 
at  Corinth,  for  Dionysius,  the  bishop  of  Corinth,  in  a  letter 
written  to  the  church  at  Rome  about  A.  D.  170,  claims  that 
Peter  visited  and  labored  in  Corinth  (Eusebius,  Book  2,  chap. 
25).  In  addition  to  this  evil  and  factious  spirit,  the  licentious- 
ness, for  which  the  city  was  noted,  appeared  in  the  church  in 
a  most  flagrant  form,  and  the  spiritual  tone  of  the  church  be- 
came so  sadly  lowered  that  even  the  Lord's  table  took  the  form 
of  a  secular  banquet,  and  became  a  scene  of  envy  and  disor- 
der. To  remedy  matters,  Paul  sent  Timothy  and  Erastus  to 
Corinth.  Before  their  return  the  church  at  Corinth  sent  For- 
tunatus,  Achaicus  and  Stephanas,  bearing  a  letter  from  the 
Pauline  (or  largest)  party,  asking  the  apostle  for  instructions  in 
many  matters,  such  as  marriages,  the  eating  of  idolatrous 
meat,  the  attire  of  women,  relative  value  of  spiritual  gifts,  the 
resurrection,  and  the  collection  for  the  poor  at  Jerusalem. 
Responding  to  all  these  reasons  for  a  letter,  the  apostle  wrote 
this  that  we  call  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  It  was 
written,  as  we  see,  from  Epiiesus  in  the  spring,  or  a  little 
before  Pentecost,  A.  D.  57  (i  Cor.  16:  8). 


50     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 


FIRST   EPISTLE   TO  THE   CORIN- 
THIANS 

EXPOSITION 

PART   FIRST 

APOSTOLIC   RELATIONS,   AND    ASSERTIONS 
OF  AUTHORITY 

i:  1-4:  21 

I. 

GREETING,   THANKSGIVING,  REPROOF   OF   DIVL 
SIGNS,   VANITY   OF    PHILOSOPHY 

i:  1-31 

1  Paul,  called  to  be  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ  through 
the  will  of  God,  and  Sosthenes  our  brother  [Paul  does 
not  here  call  himself  the  slave  of  Christ  as  he  afterwards  did 
when  he  wrote  to  the  Romans,  for  he  now  needed  to  assert  the 
divinity  of  his  apostleship  because  certain  Judaizers  had 
affirmed  in  Corinth  that  he  was  not  divinely  called,  as  were  the 
twelve.  See  i  Cor.  9:  i ;  2  Cor.  12:  12.  His  apostleship  was 
not  the  result  of  his  own  choice,  nor  yet  the  choice  of  any 
church,  but  of  the  will  of  God.  Who  Sosthenes  was  is  not 
known.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  he  was  Paul's  amanuensis,  as 
was  Tertius  (Rom.  16:  22).  The  speed  with  which  the  apostle 
uses  the  pronoun  'T"  (verse  4)  shows  how  little  Sosthenes  had 
to  do  with  the  Epistle.  It  is  highly  improbable  that  he  is  the 
same  man  mentioned  at  Acts  18:  17],  2  unto  the  church  of 
God  which  is  at  Corinth,  even  them  that  are  sanctified 
in  Christ  Jesus,  called  to  be  saints,  with  all  that  call 
upon  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  every  place, 


GREETING,    THANKSGIVING,    ETC.  51 

their  Lord  and  ours  [All  Christians  are  sanctified,  i.  e.,  set 
apart  from  the  world  and  consecrated  to  God,  and  in  the  New 
Testament  Scriptures  they  are  all  called  saints,  which  means 
*'holy  ones"  (Rom.  15:  23  ;  i  Cor.  6;  i,  2 ;  Eph.  1:1,  18 ;  Phil. 
i:  I ;  Col.  i:  2).  Into  this  saintship  they  were  called  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  through  the  agency  of  preachers  like  Paul  and 
Apollos,  etc.  Unto  the  saints  at  Corinth,  together  with  all 
others  who  showed  themselves  saints  by  calling  upon  or  pray- 
ing (Acts  7:  51 ;  9:  14 ;  Rom.  10;  3),  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  who 
is  Lord  over  all  Christians  everywhere,  Paul  addresses  his 
letter,  and  gives  the  greeting  which  follows  in  verse  3]  :  3 
Grace  to  you  and  peace  from  God  our  Father  and  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  [See  note  at  i  Thess.  i:  i.]  4  I 
thank  my  God  always  concerning  you,  for  the  grace 
of  God  which  was  given  you  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  5  that 
in  everything  [in  every  respect]  ye  w^ere  enriched  in  him, 
in  all  utterance  [so  that  they  were  able  to  preach,  teach, 
prophesy,  and  speak  with  tongues  (i  Cor.  12:8-10;  2  Cor.  8: 
7;  11:6]  and  all  knowledge  [so  that  they  had  perception  of 
doctrine,  discerning  of  spirits,  and  interpretation  of  tongues]  ; 
6  even  as  the  testimony  of  [about]  Christ  was  con- 
firmed in  you  [Paul  here  asserts  that  the  miraculous  gifts  of 
the  Spirit  which  characterized  the  times  when  he  preached  to 
them  and  converted  them,  were  still  equally  manifest  among 
them] :  7  so  that  [causing  that]  ye  come  behind  [other 
churches]  in  no  gift  [or  miracle-working  power  of  the  Spirit]; 
w^aiting  for  the  revelation  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
[Christ  taught  all  his  followers  to  be  constantly  ready  for  his 
coming,  and  the  Corinthians  were  conforming  to  this  rule]  ;  8 
who  shall  also  confirm  you  [assuming  that  they  earnestly 
desired  and  labored  to  be  confirmed,  or  kept  stedfast]  unto 
the  end  [/.  e.,  unto  the  coming  of  Christ],  that  ye  he  unre- 
provable  [unimpeachable,  because  forgiven  (Col.  i:  22;  i  Tim. 
3:18;  Tit.  1:6]  in  the  day  [judgment  day]  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  9  God  is  faithful,  through  whom  ye 
were  called  into  the  fellowship  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.     [The  faithfulness  of  God  insured  that  it  would  be 


52     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 

no  fault  of  his  if  the  Corinthians  failed  to  attain  fellowship  with 
Jesus;  i.  e.,  a  close  intimacy  with  him  in  the  present,  and  an 
association  with  him  in  glory  in  the  future.  In  these  nine 
verses  with  which  the  apostle  opens  his  Epistle  he  follows  his 
usual  course  of  putting  his  commendation  before  his  reproof. 
But  the  quahty  of  his  commendation  should  be  carefully  noted. 
He  praises  them  for  their  spiritual  endowments,  and  not  for 
their  private  virtues.  There  is  no  commendation  for  moral  ad- 
vance, as  is  accorded  to  the  Thessalonians  and  Philippians. 
Moreover,  he  deftly  concludes  by  noting  how  God  had  brought 
them  into  fellowship  and  union  with  Christ,  that  this  unifying 
act  of  God  might  stand  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  schisms  and 
factions  into  which  they  had  divided  themselves,  and  for  which 
he  is  just  now  going  to  reprove  them.]  10  Now  I  beseech 
you  [a  voice  of  entreaty],  brethren,  through  the  name  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  [a  voice  of  authority,  enforced  by 
threatened  judgment  (i  Cor.  4:  21).  In  this  Epistle  Paul  has 
already  used  the  name  of  Jesus  nine  times,  thus  emphasizing 
its  virtue  before  he  uses  it  as  the  symbol  of  supreme  authority : 
as  Chrysostom  says,  "he  nails  them  to  this  name"],  that  ye  all 
Speak  the  same  thing,  and  that  there  be  no  divisions 
among  you ;  but  that  ye  be  perfected  together  in  the 
same  mind  and  in  the  same  judgment.  [The  pride  of 
Corinth  showed  itself  largely  in  philosophical  conceit,  and  the 
citizens  who  vaunted  their  superior  intelligence  were  divided 
into  sects,  of  whom  Aristotle,  Plato,  Zeno,  Epicurus,  and  later 
philosophers,  were  the  heads.  The  church  became  inflated  with 
this  same  intellectual  vanity,  and  apparently  sought  to  make 
Christianity  the  rival  of  philosophy  by  exalting  her  humble 
teachers  to  be  heads  of  religio-philosophical  sects,  and  rivals  of 
Christ  himself.  As  to  this  sinful  condition  the  apostle  gives 
an  injunction,  covering  three  points:  i.  Unity  of  speech.  2. 
Unity  of  organization.  3.  Unity  of  mind  and  judgment.  They 
may  be  treated  in  their  order  as  follows  :  i.  Paul  first  strikes 
at  their  speech,  because  then,  as  now,  speculative  discourses, 
philosophical  dissertations,  unscriptural  reasonings,  vapid  dia- 
lectics for  display's  sake,  etc.,  had  become  a  fruitful  cause  of 


GREETING,    THANKSGIVING,    ETC.  53 

division.  It  is  this  speculative,  argumentative  spirit  which 
genders  confessions  and  creeds.  2.  He  strikes  next  at  the 
divisions  themselves,  as  the  finished,  completed  evil  com- 
plained of.  But  the  divisions  which  he  censures  were  mere 
parties  in  the  church,  not  sects  disrupting  it,  nor  organized 
denominations  professing  to  be  "branches  of  the  church." 
These  greater  divisions,  and  hence  greater  evils,  came  cen- 
turies later.  3.  He  proposes  unity  of  mind  and  judgment  as 
the  ideal  condition — the  condition  in  which  he  had  left  them, 
and  to  which  he  would  now  restore  them.  The  "mind"  repre- 
sents the  inner  state,  the  "judgment"  the  outward  exhibition 
of  it  in  action.  In  all  this,  Paul  bespeaks  not  a  partial,  but  a 
perfect,  unity.  "Perfected  together"  is  a  very  suggestive 
phrase.  Perfection  of  knowledge  brings  unity  of  thought  and 
action,  but  defective  understanding  results  in  division.  If  one 
body  of  men,  therefore,  grows  in  truth  faster  than  another,  the 
tardiness  of  the  latter  tends  to  divide.  All  should  grow  and  be 
perfected  together.  Hence,  it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  grow- 
ing disciple  to  impart  his  knowledge,  and  the  correlative  duty 
of  the  ignorant  disciple  to  freely  receive  it.]  11  For  it  hath 
been  signified  [made  known]  unto  me  concerning  you, 
my  brethren  [as  they  indeed  were,  despite  their  shortcom- 
ings], by  them  thai  are  of  the  household  of  Chloe  [no 
doubt  one  of  their  number],  that  there  are  contentions 
among  you.  12  Now  this  I  mean,  that  each  one  of 
you  saith,  I  am  of  Paul ;  and  I  of  Apollos ;  and  I  of 
Cephas;  and  I  of  Christ.  13  Is  Christ  divided?  [the 
church  is  called  the  "body  of  Christ"  (i  Cor.  12:  12,  13,  27), 
and  Paul  asks  if  that  body  can  be  cut  in  pieces  and  parceled 
out  to  human  leaders]  was  Paul  crucified  for  you?  or 
were  ye  baptized  into  the  name  of  Paul  ?  [Paul  shows 
the  disinterestedness  of  his  rebuke  by  centering  it  more  es- 
pecially upon  those  who  had  honored  him  as  their  leader,  thus 
showing,  as  Bengel  says,  that  "he  disliked  Paulinists  as  much 
as  he  did  Petrinists."  Jesus  became  the  Author  of  our  salva- 
tion, and  the  head  of  the  church  through  suffering  upon  the 
cross  (Heb.  2: 10),  and  Paul,  in  order  to  be  his  rival,  should 


54     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

not  only  have  been  crucified  for  his  followers,  but  his  sacrifice 
should  have  been  as  efficacious  for  the  cleansing  of  sin  and  the 
procuring  of  salvation  as  was  Christ's.  This  was,  of  course, 
preposterous.  Again,  if  Paul  was  incompetent  as  the  head  of 
a  religious  body,  his  followers  also  had  not  properly  qualified 
themselves  as  his  disciples,  for  they  had  not  been  baptized 
into  Paul's  name,  but  being  baptized  into  Christ  they  had  put 
on  Christ  (Gal.  3:  27),  and,  becoming  thus  members  of  Christ, 
how  could  they  belong  to  Paul?  What  Paul  thus  spoke  of 
himself  could  be  said  with  equal  force  of  either  Apollos  or 
Cephas.]  14  I  thank  God  [who,  foreseeing  the  future,  pre- 
vented him  from  making  such  a  mistake]  that  I  baptized 
none  of  you,  save  Crispus  [the  ruler  of  the  synagogue — 
Acts  18:8]  and  Gaius  [from  whose  house  Paul  wrote  his 
Epistle  to  the  Romans— Rom.  16:  23]  ;  15  lest  any  man 
should  say  that  ye  were  baptized  into  my  name.  [Paul 
knew  that  they  would  think  it  unreasonable  that  he  should  be 
accused  of  baptizing  in  his  own  name,  but  it  was  equally  un- 
reasonable in  them  to  suppose  that  he  was  making  disciples  in 
his  own  name.  Though  many  converts  were  made  at  Corinth, 
they  appear  to  have  been  baptized  by  Paul's  assistants,  Silas 
and  Timothy,  and  the  few  whom  he  baptized  with  his  own 
hand  were  no  doubt  converts  made  before  Paul's  two  friends 
arrived  from  Thessalonica.  We  should  note  how  inseparably 
connected  in  Paul's  thought  were  the  sacrifice  of  the  c^oss  and 
the  baptism  which  makes  us  partakers  in  its  benefits — Rom.  6: 
3-1 1.]  16  And  I  baptized  also  the  household  of  Ste- 
phanas [this  man,  being  then  present  with  Paul  in  Ephesus, 
probably  reminded  the  apostle  of  his  baptism]  :  besides,  I 
know  not  whether  I  baptized  any  other.  [Inspiration 
did  not  make  the  apostle  remember  such  matters.]  17  For 
Christ  sent  me  not  to  baptize,  but  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel :  not  in  wisdom  of  words,  lest  the  cross  of  Christ 
should  be  made  void.  [A  baptism  is  part  of  the  commis- 
sion (Matt.  28:  19).  Paul  was  sent  to  baptize;  but  it  was 
not  necessary  that  the  apostle  should  administer  the  rite  in 
person.      It   sufficed  if  he  saw  to  it  that  it  was  done    (John 


GREETING,    THANKSGIVING,    ETC.  55 

4:  2).  Paul  does  not  here  mean  to  assert  that  he  preached 
without  study  or  forethought.  His  words  must  be  construed 
in  the  light  of  the  context,  which  show  that  he  intends  to  deny 
tJiat  he  encumbered  the  gospel  message  with  any  philosophical 
reasoning.]  18  For  the  vvrord  of  the  cross  is  to  them 
that  perish  foolishness  ;  but  unto  us  who  are  saved 
it  is  the  power  of  God.  [From  this  point  Paul  proceeds 
to  contrast  the  ''words,"  or  message  of  the  cross,  with  the 
"wisdom  of  words,"  or  worldly  wisdom,  i.  e.,  the  philosophical 
messages  or  schemes  of  men,  of  which  he  has  just  spoken ; 
having  particularly  in  mind  those  of  the  two  leading  classes; 
viz. :  Greeks  and  Jews.  He  first  notes  that  the  word  of  the 
cross  is  differently  viewed  by  two  different  classes  ;  those  who, 
whether  as  disciples  of  Greek  philosophers  or  of  Jewish  scribes, 
have  dulled  their  moral  perception  by  following  worldly  wis- 
dom, and  leading  a  worldly,  perishing  life,  look  upon  it  as 
foolishness ;  while  those  who  have  quickened  their  apprehen- 
sion by  leading  a  godly  life,  look  upon  it  as  God's  saving  power.] 
19  For  it  is  w^ritten,  I  will  destroy  the  wisdom  of 
the  wise,  And  the  discernment  of  the  discerning  will  I 
bring  to  nought.  20  Where  is  the  wise?  where  is 
the  scribe?  v^  here  is  the  disputer  of  this  world?  [tri- 
umphant questions,  as  at  Isa.  36:  19]  hath  not  God  made 
foolish  the  wisdom  of  the  world?  21  For  seeing  that 
in  the  w^isdom  of  God  the  world  through  its  wisdom 
knew  not  God,  it  was  God's  good  pleasure  through  the 
foolishness  of  the  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe. 
[Here  Paul  quotes  Isa.  24:  14  to  show  that  God  had  foretold 
how  he  would  make  foolish  and  useless  all  kinds  of  worldly  wis- 
dom, Grecian  or  Jewish,  by  making  the  gospel  the  only  means 
of  salvation,  and  how  he  had  carried  out  the  prophecy  ;  for  in 
his  wisdom,  or  plan  of  operation,  he  had  frustrated  the  efforts 
of  wise  men  to  find  or  know  him  by  their  coldblooded,  philo- 
sophical research,  or  speculative  reasoning  (Acts  17:  23),  and 
showed  that  it  was  his  good  pleasure  to  reveal  himself  and  his 
salvation  through  this  (to  them)  foolish  preaching,  and  save 
them  who  believe  the  preaching.      Where,  then,  asked  the 


56     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 

apostle  in  triumph,  are  these  men  of  worldly  wisdom,  be  they 
scribes  or  philosophical  dialecticians?  What  have  they  done  in 
comparison  with  that  gospel  which  reveals  their  efforts  as 
foolish  and  useless  ?  What  place,  then,  has  a  wise  Paul  or  a 
disputing  Apollos  in  the  church,  which,  having  the  gospel,  has 
this  superior,  saving  wisdom  of  God?  and  why  should  the 
Corinthians  leave  the  leadership  of  God  in  Christ  and  return  to 
fools?]  22  Seeing  that  Jews  ask  for  signs,  and  Greeks 
seek  after  wisdom  :  23  but  we  preach  Christ  crucified, 
unto  Jews  a  stumblingblock,  and  unto  Gentiles  fool- 
ishness ;  24  but  unto  them  that  are  called,  both  Jews 
and  Greeks,  Christ  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom 
of  God.  25  Because  the  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser 
than  men;  and  the  weakness  of  God  is  stronger  than 
men.  [The  apostle  here  enlarges  the  thought  of  verse  i8, 
and  describes  the  two  methods  by  which  worldly  wisdom 
sought  to  be  led  to  God,  or  to  know  him  when  he  revealed 
himself  as  he  did  in  Christ.  The  Jews  looked  for  him  to  prove 
his  claims  by  miracles  of  power,  such  as  signs  from  heaven 
(Matt.  12:38;  16:1;  John  2:  18;  4:48);  and  the  Greeks  re- 
quired that  he  transcend  all  their  philosophers  before  they  gave 
him  their  allegiance.  But  God  revealed  himself  in  his  crucified 
Son,  and  so  was  rejected  by  both  classes  of  wiseacres,  the  one 
stumbling  at  a  crucified  Messiah,  whom  they  regarded  as  an 
accursed  one  (Deut.  21:  23;  Gal.  3:  13),  when  they  expected 
a  regal  and  victorious  Messiah  (Rom.  9:  33;  comp.  Isa.  8:  14); 
the  other,  looking  upon  crucifixion  as  a  slave's  death,  regarded 
salvation  by  such  a  one  as  absurd.  But  believing  Jews  saw 
in  Jesus  a  power  of  God  far  transcending  all  their  dreams  of 
an  earthly  Messiah,  and  believing  Greeks  found  in  him  a 
divine  wisdom  higher  than  all  their  ideals  of  truth,  goodness 
and  holiness.  Thus  God  vindicated  his  so-called  foolishness  as 
wiser  than  all  man's  wisdom,  and  his  so-called  weakness  in 
Christ  as  stronger  than  all  the  conceptions  of  an  earthly  Mes- 
siah—yet the  Corinthians  were  leaving  this  transcendent  sign 
and  incarnate  truth  to  return  to  their  old  worldly  wisdom  with 
its  human  leaders.]      26   For  behold   your   calling    [the 


GREETING,    THANKSGIVING,    ETC.  57 

^'principle  God  has  followed  in  calling  you"— Beza;  a  prin- 
ci4)le  whereby  "God,"  as  Augustine  says,  "caught  orators  by 
fishermen,  not  fishermen  by  orators"],  brethren,  that  not 
many  wise  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many 
noble,  are  called  [The  wise  were  moved  by  conceit  to  reject 
the  gospel  invitation  :  see  the  case  of  Gallio  (Acts  18:  12-17). 
The  corruptness  of  Roman  politics  kept  the  mighty  aloof  from 
the  purity  of  Christianity,  and  the  pride  of  noble  birth  felt 
repugnance  at  the  lowly  fellowship  of  the  early  church.  A 
brief  catalogue  will  record  all  the  distinguished  names  brought 
into  the  church  during  its  first  thirty  years,  viz.:  Joseph  of 
Arimathea,  perhaps  Nicodemus,  Saul  of  Tarsus,  Sergius 
Paulus  and  Dionysius  the  Areopagite]  :  27  but  God  chose 
the  foolish  things  of  the  world,  that  he  might  put  to 
shame  them  that  are  wise ;  and  God  chose  the  w^eak 
things  of  the  world  [Ps.  8:  2  ;  John  2:  5],  that  he  might 
put  to  shame  the  things  that  are  strong;  28  and  the 
base  things  of  the  world,  and  the  things  that  are  de- 
spised, did  God  choose,  yea  and  the  things  that  are  not 
[the  people  whom  the  world  called  "nobodies"],  that  he 
might  bring  to  nought  the  things  that  are  :  29  that  no 
flesh  [no  minister  or  other  instrument  of  his]  should  glory 
[take  pride  in  himself,  and  aspire  to  be  head  of  a  faction] 
before  God.  [The  Corinthians  in  endeavoring  to  exalt  their 
leaders  were  running  counter  to  the  counsels  of  God,  who  had 
rejected  as  his  instruments  all  those  who  had  worldly  wisdom 
and  power,  and  had  chosen  those  utterly  deficient  in  those 
things,  that  the  triumph  of  his  gospel  might  be  manifestly  due 
to  his  own  power,  and  not  to  any  excellency  residing  in  the 
instruments  or  ministers  whom  he  chanced  to  employ  (2  Cor. 
4:  7.]  30  But  of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  was 
made  unto  us  wisdom  from  God,  and  righteousness 
and  sanctification,  and  redemption  :  31  that,  according 
as  it  is  written  [Jer.  9:24],  He  that  glorieth,  let  him 
glory  in  the  Lord.  [By  the  power  of  God,  therefore,  and  not 
by  the  human  wisdom  of  preachers,  were  the  Corinthians 
brought  into  Christ,  in  whom  they  had  found  a  wisdom  of  God 


58     FIRST   EPISTLE    TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 

superior  to  all  worldly  wisdom,  and  also  the  blessings  of 
righteousfiess  and  sanctification  and  redemption,  which  no 
philosophy  could  obtain  for  them ;  so  that  every  one  who  glo- 
ried in  being  a  Christian  was  properly  directed  by  the  Scripture 
to  glory  in  the  Author  of  his  salvation,  and  not  in  the  humble 
nobody  whom  God  had  used  as  a  messenger  of  grace.  Glory- 
ing in  men  is  even  more  sinful  in  us  than  it  was  in  the  Corin- 
thians, for  we  have  more  light.] 


IL 

THE   GOSPEL   VERSUS   PHILOSOPHY. 

2:  1-16. 

In  the  last  section  Paul  showed  that  it  was  God's  plan  to 
overthrow  the  vain  wisdom  of  the  world  by  those  weak  and 
lowly  ones  whom  the  world  despised.  He  now  proceeds  to 
show  that  the  church  at  Corinth  was  founded  by  him  as  a  weak 
and  lowly  one,  in  accordance  with  God's  plan.]  And  I, 
brethren,  when  I  came  unto  you,  came  not  with  ex- 
cellency of  speech  [as  an  orator]  or  of  w^isdom  [as  a 
philosopher],  proclaiming  to  you  the  testimony  of  [about] 
God.  [Though  Paul  was  educated  at  Tarsus,  which  Strabo 
preferred  as  a  school  of  learning  to  Athens  or  Alexandria,  yet 
he  made  no  display  of  his  learning,  and  hence  his  enemies 
spoke  of  his  speech  as  contemptible  or  no  account  (2  Cor. 
10:  10).  He  quotes  from  Aratus  at  Acts  17:  28,  and  Epimen- 
ides  at  Tit.  i:  12,  and  Menander  at  i  Cor.  15:  33.  But  Paul 
counted  all  such  polite  learning  as  mere  dross  in  comparison 
with  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ— Phil.  3:  8.] 
2  For  I  determined  not  to  know  anything  among  you, 
save  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified.  [Paul  here  asserts 
that  the  subject-matter  of  his  preaching  was  selected  from 
choice,  or  fixed  design.  He  does  not  mean  to  say  that  every 
sermon  was  a  description  of  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord,  but 
that  all  his  teaching  and  preaching  related  to  the  atonement 
wrought  by  Christ  upon  the  cross.     This  atonement,  through 


THE   GOSPEL    VERSUS  PHILOSOPHY        59 

the  sacrifice  of  our  Lord,  was  recognized  by  Paul  as  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Christian  system,  and  he  here  means  to  say  that 
he  handled  no  doctrine  or  theme  at  Corinth  without  remem- 
bering and  recognizing  its  relation  to  that  foundation.]  3 
And  I  was  with  you  in  weakness,  and  in  fear,  and  iji 
much  trembling.  [Paul  frequently  asserts  his  tendency  to 
physical  weakness  and  depression  (i  Cor.  4:  7-12;  Gal.  4:  13; 
2  Cor.  10:1,  10;  12:7).  This  sense  of  weakness  was  accen- 
tuated by  his  recent  semi-failure  at  Athens,  by  frequent  perse- 
cution, and  by  the  absence  of  his  companions,  Silas  and 
Timothy,  till  Paul's  sense  of  timidity  amounted  to  actual  fear 
(Acts  18:  9).  He  was  also  out  of  money  and  had  to  work  for 
Aquila.  The  slight  admixture  of  philosophy  which  he  had  used 
in  addressing  the  Athenians  (Acts  17:  22-34)  had  thoroughly 
convinced  the  apostle  that  it  was  of  no  use,  or  benefit,  in  the 
presentation  of  the  gospel.]  4  And  my  speech  [discourse  on 
doctrine]  and  my  preaching  [announcement  of  facts]  were 
not  in  persuasive  w^ords  of  w^isdom,  but  in  demonstra- 
tion of  the  Spirit  and  of  power  [i  Cor.  1:5.  He  relied  upon 
the  divine  aid,  rather  than  upon  the  aid  of  human  learning]  : 
5  that  your  faith  should  not  stand  in  [should  not  be  based 
upon]  the  w^isdom  of  men,  but  in  the  power  of  God.  6 
We  [as  an  inspired  apostle]  speak  wisdom,  however, 
among  them  that  are  fuUgrown  :  yet  a  wisdom  not  of 
this  world,  nor  of  the  rulers  of  this  world,  who  are 
coming  to  nought  [Paul  here  begins  to  correct  the  impres- 
sion which  his  semi-ironical  language  about  the  foolishness  of 
God  might  have  made,  and  proceeds  to  show  that  the  gospel  is 
the  highest  wisdom — a  wisdom  which  he  had  not  yet  been  able 
to  impart  to  the  Corinthians  because  it  could  only  be  compre- 
hended by  mature  Christians,  and  so  was  above  the  receptive 
powers  of  the  Corinthians  who  as  yet  were  mere  babes  in 
Christ  (i  Cor.  3:  i).  But  if  the  Corinthians  who  were  develop- 
ing in  spiritual  manhood  could  not  receive  this  heavenly  wis- 
dom, much  less  could  the  world-rulers  who  were  moving 
backward,  crab-fashion,  into  nothingness,  in  accordance  with 
the  plan  of  God  outlined  in  the  last  section.     Thus  the  apostle 


60     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

reveals  the  startling  fact  that  progression  in  philosophical  and 
political  worldliness  is  retrogression  as  to  the  kingdom  of  God, 
so  that  the  Corinthians  in  seeking  to  better  their  religious 
condition  by  bringing  these  worldly  elements  into  the  church, 
were  not  only  retarding  their  spiritual  growth,  but  were  actually 
associating  themselves  with  those  who  were  shrinking  and  shriv- 
eling toward  the  vanishing  point]  :  7  but  we  speak  God's 
wisdom  in  a  mystery,  even  the  wisdom  that  hath  been 
hidden,  which  God  foreordained  before  the  w^orlds  unto 
our  glory  [Paul  often  speaks  of  Christ  and  his  gospel  as  a 
mystery  (Rom.  16:25;  Eph.  3:4-9;  Col.  1:26;  i  Tim.  3:16, 
17).  God's  purpose  to  give  his  Son  for  the  salvation  of  the 
world  was  a  mystery  long  hidden,  but  now  revealed,  but  still 
hidden  from  those  who  wickedly  refused  to  receive  it  (Matt. 
11:25;  13:10-13),  to  which  class  Paul  proceeds  to  relegate 
the  world-rulers]  :  8  which  none  of  the  rulers  of  this 
world  hath  known  :  for  had  they  known  it,  they  would 
not  have  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory  [their  conduct 
proved  their  ignorance  even  as  Jesus  asserted — Luke  23:  34]  : 
9  but  as  it  is  written,  Things  which  eye  saw  not, 
and  ear  heard  not,  And  which  entered  not  into  the 
heart  of  man,  Whatsoever  things  God  prepared  for 
them  that  love  him.  [This  passage  is  taken  from  Isa.  64:  4; 
but  it  is  an  exposition,  and  not  a  verbatim  quotation.  The 
words  form  an  unfinished  sentence,  and,  as  is  not  infrequent 
with  Paul's  quotations,  do  not  fit  nicely  into  the  general  struc- 
ture of  his  discourse.  To  understand  them  we  should  supply 
the  words  "we  speak"  from  verse  7;  /.  e.,  we  fulfill  the  proph- 
ecy by  telling  those  things  which  God  prepared  for  those  that 
love  him  (the  mystery  of  the  gospel),  but  which  no  uninspired 
man  ever  in  any  way  surmised  or  anticipated.  The  prophecy 
includes  the  unseen  glories  of  heaven.]  10  But  unto  us 
[inspired  apostles]  God  revealed  them  through  the  Spirit 
[Here  the  defective  knowledge  gained  by  the  world-rulers 
through  their  wisdom  or  philosophy  stands  in  sharp  contrast  to 
the  heavenly  and  perfect  knowledge  which  the  apostles  had  by 
revelation  of  the  Spirit.     Paul  proceeds  to  discuss  the  perfec- 


THE   GOSPEL    VERSUS  PHILOSOPHY        61 

tion  of  this  inspired  knowledge]  :  for  the  Spirit  searcheth 
all  things,  yea,  the  deep  things  [Rom.  11:33]  of  God. 
11  For  who  among  men  knoweth  the  things  of  a  man, 
save  the  spirit  of  the  man,  which  is  in  him?  even  so 
the  things  of  God  none  knoweth,  save  the  Spirit  of 
God.  12  But  we  received,  not  the  spirit  of  the  w^orld, 
but  the  spirit  which  is  from  God  ;  that  we  might  know 
the  things  that  were  freely  given  to  us  of  God.  [As  a 
man  alone  knows  himself,  so  God  alone  knows  himself.  As 
the  thoughts  and  intentions  of  a  man  are  best  known  by  his 
own  spirit,  so  also  are  the  divine  counsels  of  God  best  known  by 
the  Spirit  of  God.  If  a  man's  knowledge  of  himself  surpasses 
that  of  his  neighbor  who  knows  him  well,  much  more  must  the 
revelation  of  the  unseen  God  by  his  Spirit  far  surpass  all  the 
speculations  of  mankind  with  regard  to  him.  But  this  revela- 
tion of  God  the  apostles  enjoyed,  through  the  Spirit  of  God,  who 
guided  them  into  all  truth  (John  13:  16).  How  superior,  then, 
was  their  knowledge  to  that  of  worldly  philosophy,  even  if  it 
embraced  the  collective  knowledge  of  all  men.]  13  Which 
things  also  we  speak,  not  in  words  which  man's 
wisdom  teacheth,  but  which  the  Spirit  teacheth;  com- 
bining spiritual  things  with  spiritual  words.  [Here 
again  we  have  a  clear  claim  to  inspiration,  and  not  only 
so,  but  verbal  inspiration.  Paul  did  not  reason  after  the 
manner  of  worldly  philosophers,  but  imparted  his  truth  under 
the  guidance  of  the  Spirit,  who  taught  him  the  words  to  use, 
so  that  he  taught  spiritual  truths  with  spiritual  words,  a  fitting 
combination.  The  leaders  of  our  current  Reformation  did  well 
in  conforming  to  this  rule,  by  seeking  to  express  Bible  thoughts 
in  Bible  language.  To  Paul  the  terms  and  phrases  of  theology 
would  have  been  as  distasteful  as  those  of  philosophy,  because 
equally  man-made  and  unspiritual.]  14  Now  the  natural 
man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God  :  for 
they  are  foolishness  unto  him ;  and  he  cannot  know 
them,  because  they  are  spiritually  judged.  [As  sound  is 
perceived  by  the  ear,  and  not  by  the  eye,  so  the  spirit  of  man  per- 
ceives spiritual  things  which  can  not  be  comprehended  by  his 


62    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 

psychic  nature.  But  a  man  who  has  Hvecl  on  the  low  psychic 
plane — a  carnal,  sensuous  victim  to  bodily  appetites — has,  by 
neglect,  let  his  spiritual  faculties  become  so  torpid,  and  by  sin 
so  deadened  them,  that  the  spiritual  things  of  God  become  as 
foolishness  to  him,  despite  their  worthiness — i  Tim.  i:  15. J 
15  But  he  that  is  spiritual  judgeth  all  things,  and  he 
himself  is  judged  of  no  man.  16  For  who  hath  known 
the  mind  of  the  Lord,  that  he  should  instruct  him  ? 
But  w^e  have  the  mind  of  Christ  [A  spiritual  man, 
helped  by  the  indwelling  Spirit  of  God,  is  enabled  to  judge 
of  things  divine,  and  much  more  of  things  human.  But  he 
himself  can  not  be  judged  of  carnal  men,  because  they  have 
no  knowledge  of  those  things  by  which  they  should  weigh  or 
estimate  him.  Could  a  man  know  God  so  as  to  instruct 
him  ?  Surely  not.  No  more,  then,  could  a  man  counsel, 
judge  or  instruct  a  man  who,  by  the  inspiring  power  of  the 
Spirit,  thinks  the  thoughts  and  has  the  mind  of  Christ.  Jesus 
revealed  his  mind  to  the  apostles  (John  15:  15),  and  also  to 
Paul  as  one  of  them — Gal.  i:  11,  12.] 


III. 

SUPREMACY  OF  GOD  AND  THE  CHURCH. 

3:  1-23- 

1  And  I,  brethren,  could  not  speak  unto  you  as  unto 
spiritual,  but  as  unto  carnal,  as  unto  babes  in  Christ. 

[The  simplicity  of  Paul's  instruction  had  given  occasion  to  the 
false  apostles  (2  Cor.  11:  12-15)  to  criticize  him  as  a  shallow 
teacher  (2  Cor.  10:  10),  rather  than  as  one  who  had  "the  mind 
of  Christ."  To  this  the  apostle  replies  that  their  own  immature 
condition  up  to  the  time  when  he  left  them,  rendered  them 
'incapable  of  any  fuller  instruction  ;  for,  far  from  being  mature 
disciples  (ch.  2:  8:  Eph.  4:  13),  they  were  still  swayed  by  the 
prejudices  and  passions  of  the  unregenerate  life  out  of  whicn 
they  had  been  but  lately  born,  and  to  which  they  were  not 
wholly  dead.]    2  I  fed  you  with  milk,  not  with  meat ,  for 


SUPREMACY  OF  GOD  63 

ye  were  not  yet  able  to  hear  it  [he  had  merely  grounded 
them  in  first  principles,  and  had  not  enlightened  them  as  to 
those  higher  doctrines  which  lead  on  to  perfection,  "because 
they  could  not  grasp  them.  Comp.  Heb.  5:  11-6:  2;  i  Pet.  2: 
2;  Mark  4:  33;  John  16:  12]:  nay,  not  even  now  are  ye 
able;  3  for  ye  are  yet  carnal  [showing  undue  reverence 
for  men,  etc.]  :  for  whereas  there  is  among  you  jealousy 
and  strife,  are  ye  not  carnal  [Gal.  5:  19,  20;  Jas.  3:  16], 
and  do  ye  not  walk  after  the  manner  of  men  ?  4  For 
w^hen  one  saith,  I  am  of  Paul;  and  another,  I  am  of 
Apollos  ;  are  ye  not  men  ?  [Surely  the  Corinthians  had  no 
ground  to  argue  with  Paul  as  to  their  condition  when  he  was 
among  them,  for  their  present  condition  was  no  better,  since 
they  weie  still  swayed  by  the  same  prejudices  and  passions, 
and  were  showing  themselves  worldlings,  rather  than  Spirit- 
led  Christians — Gal.  5:  25. J  5  What  [the  neuter  of  disparage- 
ment] then  is  Apollos?  and  what  is  Paul?  Ministers 
[literally,  deacons,  z.  ^.,  servitors — Acts  6:2;  Col.  1:7;  not 
leaders— Luke  22:  25,  26]  through  whom  ["not  in  whom" — 
Bengel]  ye  believed  ;  and  each  as  the  Lord  gave  to  him. 
[i.  e.,  gave  spiritual  gifts  (Rom.  12:6);  and  success.]  6  I 
planted,  Apollos  watered ;  but  God  gave  the  increase. 
7  So  then  neither  is  he  that  planteth  anything  [in  him- 
self, without  Christ — 2  Cor.  12:  12;  John  5:4,  5,  16],  neither 
he  that  watereth  ;  but  God  that  giveth  the  increase. 
[Paul  brought  them  into  the  vineyard  or  kingdom,  Apollos 
instructed  them;  but  God  gave  the  results,  causing  them  to 
live  and  grow,  and  so  to  God  alone  was  due  the  honor  and 
praise  (Ps.  115:  i).  Paul  regarded  it  as  his  especial  duty 
^because  of  his  apostleship  to  tarry  in  no  territory  already 
occupied,  but  to  press  into  new  fields  and  plant  churches,  leav- 
iiig  others  to  help  water  them — Rom.  15:20;  2  Cor.  10:15, 
16.]  8  Now  he  that  planteth  and  he  that  watereth  are 
one  [with  respect  to  their  purposes,  or  the  ends  for  which  they 
labor :  hence,  not  rivals]  :  but  each  shall  receive  his  own 
reward  according  to  his  own  labor.  [Since  God  gives 
the  increase,  the  reward  will  be  proportioned  to  fidelity,  etc., 


64     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

rather  than  to  results.]  9  For  we  are  God's  fellow- 
workers:    ye  are   God's   husbandry,   God's    building 

[The  supreme  ownership  of  God  is  here  emphasized,  as  is 
shown  by  the  three  possessives.  Paul  and  Apollos  were  not 
fellow-workers  with  God,  but  fellow-workers  with  each  other 
under  God.  The  Corinthians  were  God's  field  in  which  they 
labored,  or  his  building  which  they  reared;  but  workers,  field 
and  building  all  belonged  to  God.]  10  According  to  the 
grace  [apostleship  with  its  attendant  gifts — Rom.  i:  t;;  Gal.  i; 
15,  16;  Eph.  3:  8]  of  God  which  was  given  unto  me,  as 
a  wise  masterbuilder  I  laid  a  foundation  [In  Corinth 
Paul  had  preached  Christ  as  the  foundation  of  the  church  and 
of  each  individual  Christian,  and  this  foundation  admitted  no 
mixture  of  philosophy  and  no  perversion  which  could  produce 
sects  (Gal.  i:  9).  All  this  Paul  asserts  without  any  shadow  of 
boasting,  for  the  skill  or  wisdom  by  which  he  had  done  it  had 
been  imparted  to  him  by  God]  ;  and  another  buildeth 
thereon.  But  let  each  man  take  heed  how  he  buildeth 
thereon.  11  For  other  foundation  can  no  man  lay 
than  that  which  is  laid  [of  or  by  God  the  Father  (i  Pet.  2: 
6) ;  God  laid  him  by  gift,  Paul  by  preaching],  which  is  Jesus 
Christ.  [Paul  had  laid  Christ  as  the  foundation  (Matt.  16: 
18;  Acts  4:  II,  12;  Eph.  2:  20)  ;  and  others  (each  being  indi- 
vidually responsible,  hence  the  singular)  had  been  building 
carnal,  worldly-minded  factions  upon  it,  and  these  are  warned 
that  the  superstructure  should  comport  with  the  foundation,  for 
so  worthy  a  foundation  should  have  a  correspondingly  worthy 
structure.]  12  But  if  any  man  buildeth  on  the  founda- 
tion gold,  silver,  costly  stones,  wood,  hay,  stubble ;  13 
each  man's  work  shall  be  made  manifest :  for  the  day 
[the  judgment  day]  shall  declare  it,  because  it  is  revealed 
in  fire  [as  to  its  quality]  ;  and  the  fire  itself  shall  prove 
each  man's  work  of  what  sort  it  is.  [All  of  the  building 
materials  here  mentioned  were  familiar  in  Corinth.  The  first 
three  kinds  were  found  in  their  fireproof  temples— material 
worthy  of  sacred  structures,  and  the  latter  three  were  used  in 
their  frail,  combustible  huts  which  were  in  no  way  dedicated 


SUPREMACY  OF  GOD  65 

to  divinity.  The  argument  is  that  Corinthian  Christians  should 
build  the  spiritual  temple  of  God,  the  church,  with  as  good 
spiritual  material  as  the  relative  earthly  material  employed  by 
their  fathers  in  constructing  idolatrous  shrines.  The  church 
should  be  built  of  true  Christians,  the  proper  material ;  and  not 
of  worldly-minded  hypocrites,  or  those  who  estimate  the 
oracles  of  God  as  on  a  par  with  the  philosophies  of  men.  The 
day  of  judgment  will  reveal  the  true  character  of  all  who  are 
in  the  church,  as  a  fire  reveals  the  character  of  the  material  in 
a  temple  structure.  The  Roman  Catholic  doctrine  of  purga- 
tory is  in  some  measure  founded  on  this  passage  ;  but  the  con- 
text shows  a  purging  of  all  evil  men  from  the  church  as  an 
entirety.  There  is  no  hint  that  the  evil  in  the  individual  is 
purged  by  fire,  leaving  a  r;ssiduum  of  righteousness.  Our  sins 
are  not  purged  by  fire,  but  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  without 
the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission — Heb.  9:  22.] 
14  If  any  man's  work  shall  abide  which  he  built  there- 
on, he  shall  receive  a  reward.  15  If  any  man's  work 
shall  be  burned,  he  shall  suffer  loss  [if  a  teacher's  dis- 
ciples endure  the  test  of  judgment,  he  shall  receive  a  reward, 
of  which  his  converts  will  be  at  least  a  part  (i  Thess.  2:  19;, 
Phil.  2:  16);  but  if  his  disciples  do  not  stand  that  test,  he  shall 
of  course  lose  whatever  property  he  had  in  them,  and  perhaps 
more— 2  John  8] :  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved  ;  yet  so 
as  through  fire.  [The  teacher  may  of  course  be  saved 
independently  of  his  disciples,  for  salvation  is  a  gift  and  not  a 
reward;  but  he  will  be  saved  as  a  steward  who  has  lost  the 
things  of  his  stewardship ;  as  a  tenant  who  has  had  his  harvest 
burned,  or  as  a  contractor  whose  structure  has  gone  up  in 
flames:  see  verse  9.]  16  Know  ye  not  [a  touch  of  amaze- 
ment at  their  ignorance]  that  ye  are  a  temple  of  God,  and 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you  ?  [In  verse  9  he 
had  called  them  God's  building;  he  now  reminds  them  of  what 
kind  the  building  was,  and  how  exalted  were  its  uses.  The 
Jerusalem  temple  was  honored  by  the  Shechinah,  but  the 
church  by  the  very  Spirit  of  God.]  17  If  any  man  destroy- 
eth  the  temple  of  God,  him  shall  God  destroy  \  for  the 


66     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 

temple  of  God  is  holy,  and  such  are  ye.  [The  factions 
are  here  plainly  made  aware  of  the  magnitude  of  their  sin, 
and  the  severity  of  their  punishment.  They  were  destroying 
the  church  by  their  divisions  (Eph.  5:  27),  maiming  and  dis- 
membering it  by  their  discordant  factions — 2  Pet.  2:1.]  18 
Let  no  man  deceive  himself.  [By  thinking  himself  wise 
enough  to  amend  or  modify  God's  truth.]  If  any  man 
thinketh  that  he  is  wise  among  you  in  this  world,  let 
him  become  a  fool,  that  he  may  become  wise.  [Let 
such  a  one  become  a  fool  in  the  world's  sight,  as  Paul  was 
(Acts  26:  24 ;  ch.  4:  10),  that  by  preaching  the  so-called  fool- 
ishness of  God  he  may  learn  the  real  wisdom  of  it.]  19  For 
the  w^isdom  of  this  w^orld  is  foolishness  w^ith  God. 
For  it  is  written  [Job  5:  13],  He  that  taketh  the  wise 
in  their  craftiness  :  20  and  again  [Ps.  94:  11],  The  Lord 
knoweth  the  reasonings  of  the  wise,  that  they  are 
vain.  [Alford  interprets  the  passage  thus:  "If  God  uses  the 
craftiness  of  the  wise  as  a  net  to  catch  them  in,  such  wisdom  is 
in  his  sight  folly,  since  he  turns  it  to  their  own  confusion." 
How  foolish  to  modify  or  adapt  the  gospel  to  make  it  palatable 
and  acceptable  to  sectarian  spirits  or  worldly  minds !  Man  is  to 
be  adjusted  to  God,  not  God  to  man,  for  he  is  unchangeable 
— Jas.  i:  17;  Heb.  13:  8.]  21  Wherefore  let  no  one  glory 
in  men.  [A  returning  upon  the  thought  at  ch.  1:31.]  For 
all  things  are  yours  [why,  then,  grasp  a  paltry  part  and 
forego  the  glorious  whole  ?]  ;  22  whether  Paul,  or  ApoUos, 
orCephas,orthe  world  [Matt.  5:  5;  Mark  10:  29,  30],  or  life 
[with  its  possibilities],  or  death  [with  its  gain— Phil,  i:  21], 
or  things  present,  or  things  to  come  [Rev.  21:  5-27]  ; 
all  are  yours  [This  is  a  positive,  as  Rom.  8:  38,  39  is  a 
negative  side  of  the  truth  at  Rom.  8:  28.  All  things  further, 
and  nothing  hinders  the  saint's  prosperity]  ;  23  and  ye  are 
Christ's  [and  hence  not  the  property  of  his  servants]  ;  and 
Christ  is  God's.  [These  words  are  an  echo  of  the  prayer  of 
the  Master  at  John  17:  21-23.  The  church  must  have  perfect 
unity  in  Christ  that  Christ  may  maintain  his  unity  with  God. 
Christ  must  of  necessity  quiet  all  contention  between  the  mem- 


SUPREMACY  OF  GOD  67 

bers  of  his  body  (i  Cor.  12:  12);  for  if  he  is  at  variance  with 
himself,  how  can  he  have  unity  with  the  Father?  Variance  is 
an  infalHble  proof  of  imperfection,  and  imperfection  can  not 
have  unity  with  God,  who  is  perfection — Matt.  5:  48.] 


IV. 

APOSTOLIC   STEWARDSHIP  AND  AUTHORITY. 

4:  1-21. 

1   Let  a  man  so  account  of  us,  as  of  ministers  of 
Christ,  and  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God.     [Paul 
here  gives  the  rule  by  which  apostles  and  evangelists  are  to  be 
estimated.     They  are  not  to  be  magnified,  for  they  are  serv- 
ants, nor  are  they  to  be  deprecated  because  of  the  value  and 
importance  of  that   which  is  entrusted  to  them  as  stewards. 
The  term  "ministers"  here  means  \\\.^x2>S\.y  under-row ers.    The 
church  is  a  ship,  or  galley;    Christ  is  the  chief  navigator,  or 
magisteriu77i ;   and  all  the  evangelists  and  teachers  are  mere 
oarsmen  with  no  ambition  to  be  leaders.     In  the  second  figure 
the  church  is  a  household,  God  is  the  householder,  the  gospel 
truths  are  the  food  and  other  provisions  which  are  dispensed 
by  the  evangelists  or  stewards.]     2   Here,  moreover,  it  is 
required  in  stewards,  that  a  man  be  found  faithful. 
[It  was  not  expected  of  the  steward  that  he  would  procure  or 
provide ;  he  was  merely  to  distribute  that  which  was  provided 
by  the  master.     The  apostles  were  not  philosophers  burdened 
with  the  discovery  and  invention  of  truth,  but  were  mere  dis- 
pensers of  truth    revealed  to  them  by  God — truth  which  must 
be    thus   revealed   because   it  can   not   be    discovered  by  any 
process  of  ratiocination.     If  the  apostles  faithfully  rehearsed 
that  which   was    revealed,    nothing   more   could   be   asked  of 
them.]     3  But  with  me  it  is  a  very  small  thing  that  I 
should  be  judged  of  you,  or  of  man's  judgment:   yea, 
I  judge  not  mine  own  self.     4   For  I  know  nothing 
against  myself ;  yet  am  I  not  hereby  justified :  but  he 
that   judgeth   me   is   the  Lord.      [Paul  is  not  arrogantly 


68     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

vaunting  himself  as  disdaining  the  good  or  bad  opinion  of  the 
Corinthians,  but  pointing  out  the  inadequacy  of  all  human 
judgment,  even  his  own,  to  decide  that  which  God  alone  can 
decide.  God  gave  the  office  and  fixed  the  manner  in  which 
its  duties  should  be  discharged,  and  so  God  alone  can  judge  the 
officer  (Rom.  14:  4).  One  might  do  wrong  unconsciously,  and 
yet  justify  himself — Ps.  19:  12  ;  i  John  3:  20.]  5  Wherefore 
judge  nothing  before  the  time,  until  the  Lord  come, 
who  will  both  bring  to  light  the  hidden  things  of 
darkness,  and  make  manifest  the  counsels  of  the 
hearts ;  and  then  shall  each  man  have  his  praise  from 
God.  [The  revelation  or  manifestation  of  things  which  shall 
accompany  the  Lord's  coming,  was  mentioned  in  our  last  sec- 
tion. In  the  light  of  that  hour,  not  only  the  deeds  of  men 
will  be  manifest,  but  even  the  motives  which  prompted  the 
deeds.  The  Corinthians,  having  no  adequate  means  of  telling 
whether  Paul  spoke  less  or  more  than  was  revealed,  would 
have  to  wait  until  that  hour  of  revelation  before  they  could 
judge  him  accurately  and  absolutely.  If  he  was  then  ap- 
proved, he  would  receive  not  only  their  praise,  but  the  praise 
of  God — Matt.  25:  21.]  6  Now  these  things,  brethren,  I 
have  in  a  figure  transferred  to  myself  and  ApoUos  for 
your  sakes  ;  that  in  us  ye  might  learn  not  to  go  beyond 
the  things  which  are  written ;  that  no  one  of  you  be 
puffed  up  for  the  one  against  the  other.  [Though 
neither  Paul  nor  Apollos  had  headed  a  faction  in  Corinth,  Paul 
has  spoken  in  this  Epistle  as  though  they  had  done  this,  and  that 
he  might  spare  the  feelings  of  the  real  leaders  in  faction  he 
had  put  himself  and  Apollos  in  their  places,  and  had  shown  the 
heinousness  of  their  supposed  conduct  as  reproved  by  many 
passages  of  Scripture.  He  had  done  this  that  the  Corinthians, 
seeing  the  evil  of  such  a  thing  even  in  an  apostle,  might  see  it 
more  plainly  in  their  little  local  party  leaders,  and  might  not 
boast  themselves  of  any  one  leader  to  the  disparagement  of 
another.  We  may  be  sure  that  those  who  were  puffing  them- 
selves up  in  one,  were  correspondingly  busy  traducing  the 
other.]     7  For  who  maketh  thee  to  differ?  and  what 


APOSTOLIC  STEWARDSHIP  69 

hast  thou  that  thou  didst  not  receive?  but  if  thou 
didst  receive  it,  why  dost  thou  glory  as  if  thou  hadst 
not  received  it?  [God  had  made  them  to  differ  both  in 
natural  and  in  spiritual  gifts  (Rom.  12:  3-8).  If,  then,  one  had 
more  subtle  reasoning  faculties  than  another,  what  ground  had 
he  for  boasting,  since  his  superiority  was  due  to  the  grace  of 
God  in  bestowing  it,  and  not  to  himself  in  acquiring  it  ?]  8 
Already  ye  are  filled  [with  self-satisfaction],  already  ye 
are  become  rich  [with  intellectual  pride],  ye  have  come 
to  reign  without  us  [Ye  have  so  exalted  yourselves  that  we 
poor  apostles  have  become  quite  needless  to  your  lordly  inde- 
pendence. The  inflated  self-esteem  of  the  Corinthians  was 
like  that  of  the  Laodiceans  some  twoscore  years  later — Rev. 
3:  17,  18]  :  yea  and  I  would  that  ye  did  reign,  that  we 
also  might  reign  with  you.  [Here,  moved  by  his  ardent 
affection,  the  apostle  passes  instantly  from  biting  sarcasm  to  a 
divinely  tender  yearning  for  their  welfare.  He  wishes  that 
they  possessed  in  reality  that  eminence  which  existed  only  in 
their  conceit.  How  different,  then,  would  be  his  own  condition. 
Their  true  development  was  his  joy,  their  real  elevation  his 
exaltation,  and  their  final  triumph  in  Christ  his  crown  of  glory- 
ing (i  Thess.  2:19;  9:23).  From  the  brilliant  picture  thus 
raised  before  his  imagination,  Paul  turns  to  depict  his  true  con- 
dition, in  all  its  unenviable  details.]  9  For,  I  think,  God 
hath  set  forth  us  the  apostles  last  of  all,  as  men 
doomed  to  death :  for  we  are  made  a  spectacle  unto 
the  world,  both  to  angels  and  men.  [As,  after  the  end 
of  the  performance,  condemned  criminals  were  brought  into 
the  amphitheater  and  made  a  gazing-stock  to  the  populace 
before  their  execution,  so  the  apostles  seemed  to  be  exhibited 
to  public  contempt.]  10  We  are  fools  for  Christ's  sake, 
but  ye  are  wise  in  Christ;  we  are  weak,  but  ye  are 
strong ;  ye  have  glory,  but  we  have  dishonor.  [In  this 
verse  Paul  resumes  his  satire,  contrasting  the  vain  imaginations 
of  the  Corinthians  with  the  real  condition  of  the  apostles,  him- 
self in  particular.]  11  Even  unto  this  present  hour  we 
both  hunger,  and  thirst,  and  are  naked,  and  are  buffeted 

6 


70     FIRST   EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

[smitten  with  the  clenched  fist],  and  have  no  certain  dwell- 
ing-place [Matt.  8:  20;  10:  23] ;  12  and  we  toil,  working 
with  our  own  hands :  being  reviled,  we  bless  [Luke  6: 
27;  I  Pet.  2:  23]  ;  being  persecuted,  we  endure  ;  13  being 
defamed,  we  entreat  [Matt.  5:  44]  :  we  are  made  as  the 
filth  of  the  world,  the  offscouring  of  all  things,  even 
until  now.  ["Filth"  indicates  either  rubbish  swept  up,  or 
such  foulness  as  is  cleansed  by  washing.  ''Offscouring"  in- 
dicates dirt  removed  by  scraping  or  scouring.  Each  neighbor, 
hood  to  which  the  apostles  came  hastened  to  be  cleansed 
of  their  presence.]  14  I  write  not  these  things  to 
shame  you  [to  make  you  feel  how  contemptible  you  are  in 
adding  to  my  many  sorrows  and  burdens],  but  to  admonish 
you  as  my  beloved  children.  [As  to  the  foolishness  of  your 
conceit.]  15  Though  ye  have  ten  thousand  tutors  [liter- 
ally, pedagogues :  the  large  number  rebukes  their  itch  for 
teachers]  in  Christ,  yet  have  ye  not  many  fathers  [they 
had  but  one— Paul]  ;  for  in  Christ  Jesus  I  begat  you 
through  the  gospel.  [In  the  first,  or  highest,  sense  disciples 
are  begotten  by  the  will  of  God  (John  i:  13) ;  but  in  a  secondary 
sense  they  are  begotten  by  the  teacher  of  gospel  truths  (Jas. 
i:  18).  The  Corinthians  had  many  builders,  but  one  founder; 
many  waterers,  but  one  planter;  many  tutors,  but  one  father. 
He  had  rights,  therefore,  which  could  never  be  rivaled.]  16 
I  beseech  you  therefore,  be  ye  imitators  of  me.  [Again, 
in  the  highest  sense  we  can  only  be  imitators  of  God  (Eph. 
5:  i)  ;  but  in  a  secondary  sense  the  Corinthians  could  imitate 
Paul — his  humility,  faithfulness,  self-sacrifice  and  industry,  as 
did  the  Thessalonians — i  Thess.  1:6.]  17  For  this  cause 
have  I  sent  unto  you  Timothy,  who  is  my  beloved  and 
faithful  child  in  the  Lord,  who  shall  put  you  in  re- 
membrance of  my  ways  w^hich  are  in  Christ,  even  as  I 
teach  everywhere  in  every  church.  [To  aid  you  in 
imitating  me,  I  have  sent  Timothy.  He  can  tell  you  how  I 
teach,  not  accommodating  the  gospel  to  the  prejudices  and 
foibles  of  any  locality ;  and  he  can,  as  my  spiritual  son,  aid 
you  by  his  own  manner  of  life  to  remember  mine.     Paul  knew 


APOSTOLIC  STEWARDSHIP  71 

that  as  soon  as  they  heard  of  this  sending  of  Timothy,  his 
enemies  would  conclude  that  he  had  sent  a  messenger  because 
he  was  afraid  to  face  the  church  himself.  Instantly,  therefore, 
he  proceeds  to  counteract  this  conclusion.]  18  Now  some 
are  puffed  up,  as  though  I  were  not  coming  to  you.  19 
But  I  will  come  to  you  shortly  [as  he  did],  if  the  Lord 
will  [J as.  4:  15] ;  and  I  will  know,  not  the  word  of  them 
that  are  puffed  up,  but  the  power.  [I  will  test  not  their 
rhetorical  ability,  but  their  power,  whether  they  can  stand 
against  that  which  I  possess  as  an  apostle.]  20  For  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  not  in  word,  but  in  power.  21 
What  will  ye?  [which  do  you  choose  or  prefer?]  shall  I 
come  unto  you  with  a  rod  [to  punish  you],  or  in  love  and 
a  spirit  of  gentleness  ?  [Because  ye  will  have  repented  of 
your  factious  spirit.] 

PART   SECOND. 

APOSTOLIC  RESPONSES  AND  CONCLUSIONS. 

5:1-16:24. 

I. 

RESPONSE   TO   REPORT   OF   INCEST. 

5:  I-I3- 

1  It  is  actually  reported  that  there  is  fornication 
among  you,  and  such  fornication  as  is  not  even  among 
the  Gentiles,  that  one  of  you  hath  his  father's  wife. 

[/.  e.,  his  step-mother.  She  was  probably  a  pagan,  and  hence 
is  not  rebuked.  The  offense  of  the  Corinthians  had  been 
magnified  in  that  they  had  let  Paul  find  out  their  sin  by  public 
gossip.  Though  they  had  written  to  him  seeking  light  on  other 
matters  (ch.  7:  i),  they  had  not  even  mentioned  this  deplorable 
wickedness.  Such  incest  was  of  course  condemned  by  the 
Jewish  law  (Lev.  18:8;  Deut.  27:20).  But  even  Corinth, 
moral   cesspool  that  it  was,  would  be  scandalized  by  such  a 


72    FIRST   EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

crime,  for  it  was  condemned  alike  by  Greeks  and  Romans. 
See  the  (Edipus  of  Sophocles,  the  Hippolytus  of  Euripides,  and 
Cicero's  Pro  Cluentio,  5.  As  to  such  a  case  Cicero  uses  these 
words:  '*0h,  incredible  wickedness,  and— except  in  this 
woman's  case — unheard  in  all  experience!"]  2  And  ye  are 
puffed  up,  and  did  not  rather  mourn,  that  he  that  had 
done  this  deed  might  be  taken  away  from  among  you. 
[Our  last  section  shows  in  what  manner  they  had  been  puffed 
up.  Had  they  been  mourning  over  their  real  sinfulness,  instead 
of  priding  themselves  in  their  philosophical  knowledge,  this 
offender  would  have  been   taken  away  by  excommunication.] 

3  For  I  verily,  being  absent  in  body  but  present  in 
spirit,  have  already  as  though  I  v^ere  present  judged 
him  that  hath  so  wrought  this  thing  [The  swiftness  of 
Paul's  judgment  stands  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  tardiness  and 
toleration  of  the  Corinthians.  The  broken  structure  of  this 
verse  and  the  one  which  follows  it,  shows  Paul's  deep  emotion. 
"The  passage  is,  as  it  were,  written  with  sobs." —  Wo7'dswo7^th~\j 

4  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  ye  being  gathered 
together,  and  my  spirit,  with  the  power  of  our  Lord 
Jesus,  5  to  deliver  such  a  one  unto  Satan  for  the  de- 
struction of  the  flesh,  that  the  spirit  may  be  saved  in 
the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  [The  full  assembly  of  the 
church  was  required,  for  the  discipline  was  to  be  administered 
by  the  entire  body.  The  marked  way  in  which  Paul  assured 
them  of  his  presence,  and  the  peculiar  punishment  which  he 
directs  to  be  administered,  have  led  many  to  believe  that  he 
promises  to  be  present  in  some  miraculous  spiritual  manner 
(Col.  2:  5  ;  comp.  2  Kings  5:  26) ;  so  as  to  use  his  miraculous 
power  to  smite  the  offender  with  sickness,  or  some  bodily  in- 
firmity, as  the  phrase  "deliver  .  .  .  unto  Satan"  is  taken  to 
mean.  Acts  5:  i-ii;  13:11;  i  Tim.  1:20,  being  cited  to 
sustain  this  meaning.  The  argument  is  very  flimsy,  and  is  not 
sustained  by  the  facts  recorded  in  this  case.  The  meaning  is 
that  Paul,  having  commanded  the  condemnation  of  the  culprit, 
will  be  spiritually  present  to  aid  the  church  in  that  condemna- 
tion.    The  offender,  being  excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  God, 


RESPONSE    TO  REPORT  OF  INCEST  73 

is  to  be  thrust  back  into  the  kingdom  of  Satan,  that  the  sense 
of  his  loneliness,  shame  and  lost  condition  may  cause  him  to 
repent,  and  mortify  or  subdue  his  flesh,  /.  e.,  his  lust,  after 
which  his  spirit,  being  thus  delivered,  might  be  saved.  The 
sequel  of  the  case  comports  with  this  interpretation,  and  there 
is  no  hint  that  the  man  ever  suffered  any  corporeal  punish- 
ment. See  2  Cor.  2:  5-8.]  6  Your  glorying  is  not  good. 
[Their  glorying  was  sinful  enough  at  best,  but  much  more  so 
when  it  was  so  inopportune,]  Know  ye  not  that  a  little 
leaven  leaveneth  the  w^hole  lump?  7  Purge  out  the 
old  leaven,  that  ye  may  be  a  new  lump,  even  as  ye 
are  unleavened.  For  our  passover  also  hath  been 
sacrificed,  even  Christ:  8  wherefore  let  us  keep  the 
feast,  not  with  old  leaven,  neither  with  the  leaven  of 
malice  and  wickedness,  but  with  the  unleavened  bread 
of  sincerity  and  truth.  [Verses  6-8  form  an  enlargement 
of  verse  2.  The  reference  to  the  passover  was  probably  sug- 
gested by  the  season  of  the  year  (ch.  16:8),  and  was  very 
apropos.  Leaven  is  a  type  of  evil,  illustrating  the  hidden 
constant  way  in  which  it  spreads.  To  the  Jew  it  was  a  symbol 
of  the  corruption  of  Egypt,  and  he  was  directed  just  before 
the  passover  to  search  for  it  diligently  in  every  part  of  his 
house,  and  remove  it  (Ex.  12:  15).  But  to  the  Christian  Christ 
is  a  perpetual  sacrifice,  an  ever-present  paschal  Lamb,  demand- 
ing and  enforcing  constant  vigilance  and  unceasing  cleanliness. 
The  individual  must  put  away  every  sinful  habit  of  the  old  life. 
The  church  must  purge  itself  of  all  whose  lives  are  sources  of 
corruption.]  9  I  wrote  unto  you  in  my  epistle  [see  intro- 
duction] to  have  no  company  with  fornicators ;  10  not 
at  all  meaning  with  the  fornicators  of  this  world,  or 
with  the  covetous  and  extortioners,  or  w^ith  idolaters; 
for  then  must  ye  needs  go  out  of  this  world  [In  this 
earlier  Epistle  the  apostle  had  directed  that  fornicators  and 
other  backsliders  inside  the  church,  should  be  treated  as  out- 
casts, since  they  were  so  regarded  of  God  (Eph.  5:  5  ;  Gal.  5: 
19-21).  But  he  had  been  misunderstood,  and  had  been  thought 
to  say  that  fornicators,  etc.,  outside  the   church  were  to   be 


74    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

wholly  avoided ;  a  very  impractical  precept,  which  could  only 
be  obeyed  by  migrating  to  another  planet,  since  this  world  is 
steeped  in  sin— comp.  John  17:  15]  :  11  but  as  it  is,  I  wrote 
unto  you  not  to  keep  company,  if  any  man  that  is 
named  a  brother  be  a  fornicator,  or  covetous,  or  an 
idolater  [Col.  3:  5],  or  a  reviler,  or  a  drunkard,  or  an  ex- 
tortioner; with  such  a  one  no,  not  to  eat.  [Have  no  inter- 
change of  hospitality  which  would  imply  brotherly  recognition, 
lest  the  church  should  thereby  not  only  be  disgraced,  but  cor- 
rupted—i  Cor.  15:33.]  12  For  what  have  I  to  do  with 
judging  them  that  are  without?  Do  not  ye  judge  them 
that  are  within?  13  But  them  that  are  without  God 
judgeth.  [These  facts  showed  that  the  apostle  had  referred 
to  those  within  the  church ;  the  discipline  of  those  without  is 
exclusively  in  the  hands  of  God.]  Put  away  the  wicked 
man  from  among  yourselves.  [A  summary  command  as 
to  him  and  other  wicked  men.] 


II. 

RESPONSE    TO    RUMORS    OF    LITIGATION,    ETC. 

6:  1-20. 

1  Dare  any  of  you,  having  a  matter  against  his 
neighbor,  go  to  law  before  the  unrighteous,  and  not 
before  the  saints?  [i.  Division,  2.  Incest,  3.  Litigation: 
such  is  the  order  of  Paul's  rebukes.  With  reckless  audacity 
the  Corinthians,  by  indulging  in  litigation  and  submitting  their 
causes  to  pagan  tribunals,  were  not  only  disobeying  the  Lord's 
command  (Matt.  18:  15-17),  but  were  also  committing  treason 
against  their  present  brotherhood  and  their  future  status  as 
judges.  It  appears  that  even  the  Jews  refused  to  sue  each 
other  before  pagan  tribunals — Josephus  Ant.  14:  10-17.]  2  Or 
know  ye  not  that  the  saints  shall  judge  the  world? 
and  if  the  world  is  judged  by  you,  are  ye  unworthy 
to  judge  the  smallest  matters?  3  Know  ye  not  that 
we  shall  iud^e  angels  ?  how  much  more,  things  that 


RESPONSE    7  0  RUMORS,   ETC,  75 

pertain  to  this  life  ?  [They  were  permitting  themselves  to 
be  judged  by  those  whom  they  were  appointed  to  judge.  To 
prove  that  the  saints  will  participate  with  Christ  in  the  final 
judgment,  the  following  passages  are  often  cited  (Ps.  49:  14 ; 
Dan.  7:22-27;  Matt.  19:28;  20:23;  Jude  ^6 ;  Rev.  2:26;  3: 
21  ;  20:  4).  It  is  doubtful  if  any  of  these  are  applicable;  the 
manner  of  our  participation  is  nowhere  explained.  Barrow 
suggested  that  in  the  order  of  the  judgments  the  saints  would 
be  justified  first  (Matt.  25:  41),  after  which  they  would  sit  with 
Christ  as  assessors,  or  associate  judges,  in  the  condemnation 
of  the  wicked  and  the  evil  angels,  and  his  view  is  pretty  gener- 
ally received.  But  it  is  more  probable  that  the  saints  will  only 
participate  as  mystically  united  with  Christ  the  judge,  just  as, 
by  mystical  union,  they  are  kings  and  priests,  though  in  no  sense 
exercising  these  offices  literally.  The  church  shall  judge  the 
world  in  Christ  her  head.  But  the  point  made  by  Paul  is  that 
those  whom  God  honors  by  association  in  so  important  a  judi- 
cature may  well  be  entrusted  to  judge  trivial  matters;  for  the 
weightiest  matter  of  earth  is  light  compared  with  the  questions 
of  eternal  destiny  decided  on  that  day.]  4  If  then  ye  have 
to  judge  things  pertaining  to  this  life,  do  ye  set  them 
to  judge  who  are  of  no  account  in  the  church  ?  5  I 
say  this  to  move  you  to  shame.  [If  called  on  as  a  church 
to  judge  any  matter,  would  you  choose  its  simpletons  and 
numbskulls  as  judges?  I  ask  this  to  make  you  ashamed,  for 
ye  do  even  more  foolishly  when  you  submit  your  cases  to  world- 
lings, who  are  even  less  competent  judges.]  W^hat,  cannot 
there  be  found  among  you  one  wise  man  who  shall 
be  able  to  decide  between  his  brethren,  6  but  brother 
goeth  to  law  with  brother,  and  that  before  unbelievers? 
[This  question  is  a  crushing  rebuke  to  their  vaunted  pride  as 
learned  sages.  The  rebuke  is  intensified  by  the  phrase  "know 
ye  not,"  which  is  used  six  times  in  this  chapter,  four  times  in 
the  rest  of  his  writing  to  the  Corinthians,  and  only  twice  by  him 
elsewhere — Rom.  6:16;  11:2;  comp.  Matt.  12:3.]  7  Nay, 
already  [before  ye  even  begin  civil  action]  it  is  altogether 
a  defect  in  you,  that  ye  have  lawsuits  [more  correctly, 


76    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

matter  worthy  of  litigation]  one  with  another.  [Here 
Paul  emphasizes  the  ripened  state  of  their  criminality  by 
condemning  even  its  germinal  stage  as  a  defect.]  Why 
not  rather  take  wrong?  why  not  rather  be  defrauded? 
8  Nay,  but  ye  yourselves  do  wrong,  and  defraud,  and 
that  your  brethren.  [Far  from  enduring  wrong  and  obeying 
Christ  (Matt.  5:40;  i  Pet.  2:22;  comp.  Prov.  20:22),  they 
were  actually  perpetrating  wrong  upon  their  brethren.  In 
view  of  this  flagrant  wickedness  Paul  proceeds  to  warn  them 
of  the  results  of  wickedness,  and  of  their  professed  repentance 
as  to  it.]  9  Or  know  ye  not  that  the  unrighteous  shall 
not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God?  [That  glorious  celestial 
kingdom  of  which  the  church  is  the  earthly  type.]  Be  not 
deceived  [so  as  to  think  sin  will  not  result  in  punishment 
— Gal.  6: 7] :  neither  fornicators,  nor  idolaters,  nor 
adulterers,  nor  effeminate  [catamites],  nor  abusers  of 
themselves  with  mea  [Rom.  1:26,  27],  10  nor  thieves, 
nor  covetous,  nor  drunkards,  nor  r e viler s,  nor  extor- 
tioners, shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.  [Paul  here 
accords  with  James  that  faith  without  works  is  dead  (Jas.  2:  17). 
Our  highest  privileges  may  be  abrogated  by  sin.]  11  And 
such  were  some  of  you  [they  had  been  true  Corinthians]  : 
but  ye  were  washed  [Acts  22:  16;  Eph.  5:  26;  Tit.  3:  5  ; 
Heb.  10:22],  but  ye  were  sanctified  [set  apart  to  God's 
uses],  but  ye  were  justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  [counted  righteous  after  the  remission  of  your 
sins],  and  in  the  Spirit  of  our  God.  [The  work  being 
consummated  by  the  Holy  Spirit— Acts  2:  38.]  12  All  things 
are  lawful  for  me ;  but  not  all  things  are  expedient. 
[The  abruptness  here  suggests  that,  in  palliation  of  their  undue 
laxity  and  toleration,  they  had  in  their  letter  (7:  i)  urged  this 
rule  ;  which  they  had  doubtless  learned  from  Paul  (ch.  10:  23  ; 
Gal.  5:  23).  Hence  Paul  takes  up  the  rule  to  show  that  it  does 
not  avoid  the  disinheriting  of  which  he  has  just  spoken.]  All 
things  are  lawful  [literally,  within  my  power]  for  me ;  but 
I  will  not  be  brought  under  the  power  of  any.  [They 
had  erred  in  taking  the  rule  as  to  things  indifferent,  such  as 


RESPONSE    TO  RUMORS,    ETC.  77 

natural  appetites,  and  so  applying  it  as  to  make  it  cover  not 
only  sinful  things,  but  even  those  grossly  so,  such  as  sensuous 
lusts  (comp.  I  Pet.  2:  16).  The  rule  is  properly  applied  by  the 
apostle  at  ch.  8:  8-10.  He  here  refutes  their  ideas  as  to  the 
rule  by  showing  that  their  application  of  it  would  gender 
bondage,  as  excess  of  freedom  invariably  does.]  13  Meats 
for  the  belly,  and  the  belly  for  meats :  but  God  shall 
bring  to  nought  both  it  and  them.  But  the  body  is  not 
for  fornication,  but  for  the  Lord  ;  and  the  Lord  for  the 
body :  14  and  God  both  raised  the  Lord,  and  will  raise 
up  us  through  his  power.  15  Know  ye  not  that  your 
bodies  are  members  of  Christ  ?  [parts  of  his  body  (ch.  12  : 
27;  Eph.  5:30);  branches  of  the  Vine — John  15:5]  shall  I 
then  take  aw^ay  the  members  of  Christ,  and  make  them 
members  of  a  harlot?  God  forbid.  [Literally,  let  it 
never  be  ;  a  phrase  often  used  by  Paul  when  indignantly  re- 
jecting a  false  conclusion.]  16  Or  know  ye  not  that  he 
that  is  joined  to  a  harlot  is  one  body?  [as  if  in  Satanic 
marriage]  for,  The  twain,  saith  he  [Gen.  2:  24 ;  Matt.  19: 
5  ;  Eph.  5:  31],  shall  become  one  flesh.  17  But  he  that 
is  joined  unto  the  Lord  is  one  spirit.  [Having  closest 
spiritual  union  with  Christ — Gal.  2:  20;  3:  27  ;  Col.  3:  17.]  18 
Flee  fornication.  [As  Joseph  did— Gen.  39:  12.]  Every 
sin  that  a  man  doeth  is  without  the  body;  but  he 
that  committeth  fornication  sinneth  against  his  own 
body.  [Paul  notes  the  mutual  adaptation  or  correlation 
between  the  belly  and  food,  but  asserts  that  this  correlation 
is  transient,  and  will  be  demolished  by  death.  A  subservient 
correlation  also  exists  between  husband  and  wife,  for  they 
twain  become  one  flesh,  and  the  innocency  of  their  union  does 
not  interfere  with  the  relation  of  either  to  God,  which  is  the 
body's  supreme  correlation.  But  there  is  no  lawful  correlation 
between  the  body  of  the  Christian  and  that  of  the  harlot,  and 
such  a  correlation  can  not  be  subservient  to  the  body's  supreme 
correlation,  but  is  repugnant  to  it.  The  correlation  between 
the  stomach  and  food  is  transient,  ending  at  death ;  but  that 
between  the  body  and  the  Lord  is  made  eternal  by  the  resur- 


78    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

rection.  Now,  other  sins,  even  drunkenness  and  gluttony,  are 
sins  without  the  body  ;  z.  e.,  sins  against  those  parts  of  the  body 
that  shall  not  inhere  to  it  in  the  future  state  (Rev.  7:  16),  and 
hence  do  not  strike  directly  at  that  future  state  ;  but  fornication 
joins  the  whole  body  in  sinful  union  to  a  body  of  death,  so  that 
it  becomes  one  flesh  with  the  condemned  harlot,  thereby 
wholly  severing  itself  from  the  mystical  body  of  life  in  Christ, 
and  thus  it  does  strike  directly  at  the  body's  future  state.  19 
Or  know^  ye  not  that  your  body  is  a  temple  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  which  is  in  you,  which  ye  have  from  God?  [as 
the  whole  church  is  a  temple  (ch.  3:  16;  Rom.  14:8),  so  also 
the  body  .of  each  individual  Christian  is  likewise  a  temple] 
and  ye  are  not  your  own ;  20  for  ye  were  bought 
with  a  price  [sold  to  sin  (i  Kings  21:  20;  Rom.  7:  14),  we 
have  been  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Christ — Acts  20:28; 
Rom.  6:16-22;  Heb.  9:12;  i  Pet.  1:18,  19;  Rev.  5:9]: 
glorify  God  therefore  in  your  body.  [Since  our  bodies 
belong  to  God,  they  should  be  used  to  glorify  him.  The  whole 
passage  confutes  the  slander  of  those  materialists  who  contend 
that  Christianity  depreciates  the  body.] 


III. 

RESPONSE   AS   TO   MARRIAGE. 
7:  1-40. 

1    Now   concernmg   the   things   w^hereof  ye  wrote 

[Hitherto  Paul  has  written  concerning  things  which  he  learned 
by  common  report ;  he  now  begins  to  reply  to  questions  which 
they  had  asked  him  in  their  letter.  As  we  come  to  the  several 
answers  we  will  state  the  probable  form  of  the  question,  as  an 
aid  to  interpretation.  All  of  the  apostle's  answers,  however, 
have  reference  to  then  existing  conditions,  which  were  very 
stringent  and  threatening.  His  advice  is  therefore  to  be  wisely 
and  conscientiously  applied  by  modern  Christians  after  weighing 
differences  between  present  conditions  and  those  which  then 
existed.     First  question  :  Is  marriage  to  be  desired  or  avoided 


RESPONSE  AS    TO  MARRIAGE  79 

by  Christians?  Paul  answers]:  It  is  good  [advisable, 
proper]  for  a  man  not  to  touch  [marry]  a  woman.  2 
But,  because  of  fornications,  let  each  man  have  his 
own  wife,  and  let  each  woman  have  her  own  husband. 
[Paul  does  not  discourage  marriage,  much  less  forbid  it  (i  Tim. 
4:  3  ;  Heb.  13:  4).  Moreover,  while  he  begins  by  counseling 
the  Corinthians  to  abstain  from  it  under  their  present  con- 
ditions (verse  26),  he  tempers  and  practically  countermands 
his  counsel  because  of  the  prevalent  licentiousness  in  Corinth, 
against  which  matrimony,  being  man's  normal  state,  was  a 
great  safeguard.]  3  Let  the  husband  render  unto  the 
wife  her  due :  and  likewise  also  the  wife  unto  the 
husband.  4  The  wife  hath  not  power  over  her  own 
body,  but  the  husband :  and  likew^ise  also  the  husband 
hath  not  power  over  his  own  body,  but  the  w^ife.  5 
Defraud  [deprive]  ye  not  one  the  other,  except  it  be  by 
consent  for  a  season,  that  ye  may  give  yourselves  unto 
prayer,  and  may  be  together  again,  that  Satan  tempt 
you  not  because  of  your  incontinency.  6  But  this  I 
say  by  w^ay  of  concession,  not  of  commandment. 
[That  his  readers  may  understand  his  counsel,  Paul  discusses 
the  marriage  state,  and  shows  that  the  reciprocal  rights  of  the 
parties  thereto  forbid  abstinence  to  either  husband  or  wife, 
save  in  cases  where  one  wishes  to  devote  a  season  to  prayer; 
but  even  here  the  abstinence  must  be  by  mutual  consent,  and 
the  apostle  does  not  enjoin  it,  but  merely  concedes  or  permits 
it  at  such  times,  because  the  higher  duty  of  prayer  may  for  a 
season  suspend  conjugal  duty.  But  here  again  caution  must 
be  observed,  lest  too  prolonged  abstinence  might  work  temp- 
tation to  either  party,  especially  the  prayerless  one.]  7  Yet  I 
would  that  all  men  were  even  as  I  myself.  Howbeit 
each  man  hath  his  own  gift  from  God,  one  after  this 
manner,  and  another  after  that.  8  But  I  say  to  the 
unmarried  and  to  widows.  It  is  good  for  them  if  they 
abide  even  as  I.  9  But  if  they  have  not  continency, 
let  them  marry:  for  it  is  better  to  marry  than  to  burn. 
[In  contrast  with  the  enforced  indulgence  of  matrimony,  Paul 


80     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

sets  up  his  own  life  of  abstinence  as  preferable,  but  only  to 
such  as  have  with  him  a  gift  of  absolute  self-control.     But  all 
have  not  this  gift,  for  God's  gift*  are  infinitely  various.     He 
therefore    advises    the    unmarried   who  have   the  gift  of  self- 
control  to  remain  unmarried,  but  those  lacking  it  should  avoid 
unlawful  lusts  by  marriage.     In  short,  then,  the  single  state  is 
preferable  in  troublous  times  to  such  as  have  Paul's  continence. 
Second  question  :    Is  marriage  to  be  dissolved  when  one  party 
believes,  and  the  other  does  not?    It  is  likely  that  this  question 
was  raised  by  the  Judaizers,  for  while  the  original  law  given 
by  Moses  only  forbade   marriage  with  the  seven  Canaanitish 
nations  (Deut.  7:  1-3),  yet  the  prophets  and  rulers  so  inter- 
preted the  law  as  to  make  it  include  Egyptians  and  Edomites 
(i  Kings  11:  I,  2;  Ez.  9:  I,  2),  and  at  last  it  came  to  be  un- 
derstood that  Jews  were  forbidden  to  marry  outside  their  own 
nation  (Josephus  Ant.  VIII.  7:  5  ;   XI.  5:  4  ;  XI.  7:  2  ;  XL  8:  2 ; 
XII.  4:  6),  and  the  children  of  such  marriages  were  regarded  as 
illegitimate— Ez.  10:  3.]     10  But  unto  the  married  I  give 
charge,  yea  not  I,  but  the  Lord  [by  his  own  lips — Matt.  5: 
31,  32;   19:  3-12;  Mark  10:  12],  That  the  wife  depart  not 
from  her  husband   11  (but  should  she  depart,  let  her 
remain  unmarried,  or  else  be  reconciled  to  her  hus- 
band);  and  that  the  husband  leave  not  his  wife.     12 
But  to  the  rest  [the  further  application  of  the  law  or  prin- 
ciple] say  I  [as  an  inspired  apostle],  not  the  Lord  [with  his 
own  lips]  :    If  any  brother  hath  an  unbelieving  w^ife,  and 
she  is  content  to  dwell  with  him,  let  him  not  leave  her. 
13  And  the  woman  that  hath  an  unbelieving  husband, 
and  he  is  content  to  dwell  with  her,  let  her  not  leave 
her  husband.    14  For  the  unbelieving  husband  is  sanc- 
tified in  the  wife  [The  word  "sanctified"  is  here  used  in  the 
Jewish  sense  of  being  not  unclean,   and  therefore   not  to  be 
touched],  and  the  unbelieving  wife  is  sanctified  in  the 
brother  [her  husband] :  else  were  your  children  unclean ; 
but  now  are  they  holy.     [Holy  is  contrasted  with  unclean, 
and  means  the  same  as  "sanctified."]     15  Yet  if  the  un- 
believing departeth,  let  him  depart :  the  brother  or  the 


RESPONSE  AS    TO   MARRIAGE  81 

sister  is  not  under  bondage  in  such  cases :  but  God 
hath  called  us  in  peace.  16  For  how  knowest  thou, 
O  wife,  whether  thou  shalt  save  thy  husband?  or  how 
knowest  thou,  O  husband,  whether  thou  shalt  save  thy 
w^ife?  17  Only,  as  the  Lord  hath  distributed  to  each 
man,  as  God  hath  called  each,  so  let  him  walk.  And 
so  ordain  I  in  all  the  churches.  [Paul  first  answers  gener- 
ally that  under  no  conditions  are  the  husband  and  wife  to 
separate  (the  single  exception  (Matt.  19:  9)  not  being  given, 
because  not  a  point  in  controversy).  This  law,  however,  rests 
not  on  Paul's  authority  alone  (which  some  of  the  Judaizers 
might  question),  but  on  that  of  the  Lord  himself,  who  plainly 
propounded  it,  repealing  the  ordinances  of  Moses  which  were 
contrary  to  it  (see  "Fourfold  Gospel,"  p.  242).  As  an  inspired 
apostle,  Paul  applies  this  law  to  the  case  of  Christians  united 
in  wedlock  with  unbelievers,  and  declares  that  such  should  not 
separate  on  account  of  their  faith ;  for  the  law  of  Christ  so 
reverses  that  of  Moses  that  the  Christian  sanctifies  or  removes 
the  uncleanness  of  the  unbelieving  partner,  and  of  the  children. 
But  such  unequal  marriages  are  not  favored  by  God  (2  Cor.  6: 
14),  and  therefore  if  the  unbeliever  be  so  intolerant  as  to  refuse 
to  live  with  a  converted  partner,  then  the  partner  is  not  under 
bondage  to  the  unbeliever.  But  God  calls  the  believer  to  a  life 
of. peace  which  forbids  any  such  discordant  acts  as  tend  to 
induce  or  drive  the  unbeliever  to  dissolve  the  marriage,  for 
by  the  exercise  of  Christian  ger>tleness  and  forbearance  the 
believer  may  convert  and  save  the  unbeliever  (i  Pet.  3:  i,  2). 
As  a  summary  rule  for  all  things  of  a  smaller  nature,  the  apostle 
says  that  each  man  must  rest  content  to  walk  in  the  lot  which 
God  has  apportioned  to  him,  not  making  his  new  religion  an  ex- 
cuse for  unwarranted  changes.  As  this  rule  applied  to  all 
churches,  it  worked  no  especial  hardship  to  the  Corinthians.] 
18  Was  any  man  called  [converted]  being  circumcised? 
let  him  not  become  uncircumcised.  [i  Mace,  i:  15.] 
Hath  any  been  called  in  uncircumcision  ?  let  him  not 
be  circumcised.  19  Circumcision  is  nothing,  and  un- 
circumcision is  nothing ;  but  the  keeping  of  the  com- 


82     FIRST   EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

mandments  of  God.  [is,  in  this  connection,  everything.] 
20  Let  each  man  abide  in  that  calling  [trade  or  social 
condition]  wherein  he  was  called.  21  Wast  thou  called 
being  a  bondservant?  care  not  for  it:  nay,  even  if 
["nay,  even  if"  should  read  "but  if"]  thou  canst  become 
free,  use  it  {i.  e.,  freedom]  rather.  22  For  he  that  was 
called  in  the  Lord  being  a  bondservant,  is  the  Lord's 
freedman :  likewise  he  that  was  called  being  free,  is 
Christ's  bondservant.  23  Ye  were  bought  with  a  price ; 
become  not  bondservants  of  men.  24  Brethren,  let 
each  man,  wherein  he  was  called,  therein  abide  with 
God.  [/.  e.,  abide  with  God  in  the  calHng  wherein  he  was 
called.  Taking  up  the  rule  of  verse  17,  Paul  shows  by  way  of 
illustration  its  application  to  other  matters.  Christianity  does 
not  require  that  Jews  or  Greeks  change  their  nationality,  for 
nationality  has  nought  to  do  with  salvation,  which  rests  wholly 
on  obedience  to  the  law  of  Christ.  Again,  Christianity  does 
not  demand  that  a  man  change  his  vocation  or  calling,  if 
honest  and  clean  (comp.  Luke  3:  12-14).  Taking  up  the  ex- 
treme case  of  slavery,  Paul  counsels  that  a  change  is  not  to 
be  feverishly  sought.  If,  however,  freedom  can  be  obtained, 
it  is  to  be  preferred,  and  where  master  and  slave  are  both 
Christians  it  should  be  bestowed,  for  the  slave  is  exalted  to  be 
Christ's  freedman  (Luke  i:  52),  and  the  master  is  humbled  in 
Christ  to  be  a  servant  (Matt.  20:  25-28).  Acting  under  these 
principles,  Paul  asked  Philemon  to  free  Onesimus.  The  price 
which  the  Lord  paid  for  his  own  when  he  gave  his  precious 
blood  as  their  ransom,  so  far  exceeds  that  paid  for  them  as 
slaves  that  it  nullifies  slavery.  Third  question  :  Is  celibacy 
or  virginity  preferable  to  marriage?  Paul  answers:]  25 
Now  concerning  virgins  I  have  no  commandment  of 
the  Lord  :  but  I  give  my  judgment,  as  one  that  hath  ob- 
tained mercy  of  the  Lord  to  be  trustworthy.  26  I 
think  therefore  that  this  is  good  by  reason  of  the  dis- 
tress that  is  upon  us,  namely,  that  it  is  good  for  a  man 
to  be  as  he  is.  27  Art  thou  bound  unto  a  wife  ?  seek 
not  to  be  loosed.    Art  thou  loosed  from  a  wife  ?   seek 


RESPONSE  AS    TO   MARRIAGE  83 

not  a  wife.     28   But  shouldest  thou  marry,  thou  hast 
not  sinned  ;  and  if  a  virgin  marry,  she  hath  not  sinned. 
Yet  such  shall  have  tribulation  in  the  flesh :    and  I 
would  spare  you.  [the  pains  and  sufferings  which  will  arise 
by  reason  of  your  marriage  ties.]     29  But  this  I  say,  breth- 
ren, the  time  is  shortened,  that  henceforth  both  those 
that  have  wives  may  be  as  though  they  had  none  ;    30 
and  those  that  weep,  as  though  they  wept  not ;   and 
those  that  rejoice,  as  though  they  rejoiced  not;   and 
those  that  buy,  as  though  they  possessed  not;    31  and 
those  that  use  the  world,  as  not  using  it  to  the  full : 
for  the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away.     [At  the 
time  of  Paul's  writing,  a  great  social  convulsion  was  expected. 
The    persecutions   under   Nero   and    his   successors,    and   the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  were  sufficient  of  themselves  to  form 
the  burden  of  many  an  awe-inspiring  prophecy,  and  such  were 
no  doubt  plentiful.     Because  of  the  nearness  of  the  impending 
crisis  Paul  counsels  each  one  to  stay  as  he  is,  and  refrain  from 
entangling  himself  with  new  ties  and  obligations ;  for  the  trials 
of  the  hour  would  require  stoical  fortitude  of  every  disciple. 
He  gives  this  advice  and  that  which  follows  simply  as  a  Chris- 
tian, and  not  as  an  inspired  apostle.]     32  But  I  would  have 
you  to  be  free  from  cares.      He  that  is  unmarried  is 
careful  for  the  things  of  the  Lord,  how^  he  may  please 
the  Lord:   33  but  he  that  is  married  is  careful  for  the 
things  of  the  world,  how  he  may  please  his  wife,  34 
and  is  divided.     So  also  the  woman  that  is  unmarried 
and  the  virgin  is  careful  for  the  things  of  the  Lord,  that 
she  may  be  holy  both  in  body  and  in  spirit :  but  she 
that  is  married  is  careful  for  the  things  of  the  world, 
how  she  may  please  her  husband.     35  And  this  I  say 
for  your  own  profit ;  not  that  I  may  cast  a  snare  upon 
you,  but  for  that  which  is  seemly,  and  that  ye  may 
attend  upon  the  Lord  without  distraction.     [The  less  the 
Christian  is  entangled  with  social  ties,  the  freer  he  is  to  per- 
form the  Lord's  service.     Those  who  have  no  desire  to  marry 
have  larger  liberty  to  do  church  work  if  they  remain  single. 


84     FIRST   EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIAnS 

But  the  apostle  warns  us  not  to  turn  his  counsel  into  a  snare 
by  construing  it  as  a  prohibition  of  marriage.  Paul  saw  no 
peculiar  holiness  in  celibacy,  for  with  him  marriage  was  holy 
(i  Cor.  11:13;  Eph.  5:25-32;  comp.  Rev.  4:  4;  21:2).  He 
merely  states  that  unmarried  people  are  less  encumbered.]  36 
But  if  any  man  thinketh  that  he  behaveth  himself  un- 
seemly toward  his  virgin  daughter^  if  she  be  past  the 
flower  of  her  age,  and  if  need  so  requireth,  let  him  do 
what  he  will ;  he  sinneth  not ;  let  them  [such  daughters] 
marry.  37  But  he  that  standeth  stedfast  in  his  heart, 
having  no  necessity,  but  hath  power  as  touching  his 
own  will,  and  hath  determined  this  in  his  own  heart, 
to  keep  his  own  virgin  daughter,  shall  do  well.  38  So 
then  both  he  that  giveth  his  own  virgin  daughter  in 
marriage  doeth  well;  and  he  that  giveth  her  not  in 
marriage  shall  do  better.  [Marriages  in  the  East  were 
then,  as  now,  arranged  by  the  parents.  If  a  parent  saw  fit  to 
marry  his  daughter  he  had  a  perfect  right  to  do  so  and  was 
guilty  of  no  sin,  but  if  he  heeded  the  apostle's  warning  as  to 
the  coming  trials  and  kept  his  daughter  free  from  alliances 
he  acted  more  wisely.  Fourth  question :  Should  widows  re- 
marry? is  answered  thus:]  39  A  wife  is  bound  for  so 
long  time  as  her  husband  liveth;  but  if  the  husband  be 
dead,  she  is  free  to  be  married  to  whom  she  will ;  only 
in  the  Lord.  \_i.  ^  ,  to  a  Christian.]  40  But  she  is  happier 
if  she  abide  as  she  is,  after  my  judgment:  and  I  think 
that  I  also  have  the  spirit  of  God. 


CONCERNING   IDOLATROUS  MEATf  ETC.    85 


IV. 

FOURTH   RESPONSE,   CONCERNING   IDOLA- 
TROUS  MEAT. 

8:  1-13. 

[The  question  which  Paul  here  answers  may  be  stated  thus: 

"Have  not  Christia?ts  perfect  liberty  to  eat  meat  that  has  beeii 

sacrificed  to  idols  ?'^     To  this  question  the  Corinthians  seem 

to  have  added  a  line  or  two  of  argument,  that  they  might  obtain 

an  affirmative  answer,  as  appears  by  the  apostle's  reply.]     1 

Now  concerning  things  sacrificed  to  idols :   We  know 

[ye  say]  that  we  all  have  knowledge.     Know^ledge  [I 

reply]    puffeth   up,   but  love  edifieth.    [Hterally,   buildeth 

up.]     2  If  any  man  thinketh  that  he  knoweth  anything, 

he  knoweth  not  yet  as  he  ought  to  know  [for  humility 

precedes  true  knowledge]  ;    3  but  if  any  man  loveth  God, 

the  same  [/.  e.,  God]  is  known  by  him.   \i.  e.,  the  lover  of 

God  (i  John  4:  7).     Before  replying  to  the  question,  Paul  deals 

with  the  argument  which  accompanied  it^  pointing  out  the  fact 

that  their  boasted  knowledge  was  confessedly  without  love,  and 

being  such  it  was  puffing  instead  of  building  them  up.     But  the 

man  who   loves  God,  knows  God ;    and  in   the   richness   and 

fullness  of  that  knowledge  is  able  to  deal  with  such  questions 

as  that   which  they   ask.     He   now  resumes  answering  their 

question.]     4  Concerning  therefore  the  eating  of  things 

sacrificed  to  idols,  we  know  that  no  idol  is  anything  in 

the  world  [Isa.  44:  9-20],  and  that  there  is  no  God  but 

one.     5    For   though   there   be   that  are   called   gods, 

whether  in  heaven  [as  celestial  bodies,  or  as  myths]  or  on 

earth  [as  idols]  ;  as  there  are  gods  many  [the  Greek  cities 

had  pantheons  and  temples  filled  with  them],  and  lords  many 

[the  Roman  emperors,  and  even  lesser  dignitaries,  demanded 

that  divine  honors  be  paid  them] ;  6  yet  to  us  there  is  one 

God,  the  Father  [contradicting  the  many],  of  whom  are 

all  things  [whose  creatorship  undeifies  all  other  beings,  re- 

7 


86     FIRST   EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

ducing  them  to  mere  creatures],  and  we  unto  him  [created 
as  his  peculiar  treasure  and  possession,  and  hence  exalted  far 
above  the  idols  which  we  once  worshiped]  ;  and  one  Lord 
[also  contradicting  the  many],  Jesus  Christ,  through  whom 
are  all  things  [as  the  Father's  creative  executive — John  i:  3; 
Heb.  i:  2],  and  we  through  him.  [regenerated  and  recon- 
ciled to  the  Father.]  7  Howbeit  there  is  not  in  all  men 
that  knowledge  [the  apostle  limits  and  corrects  their  state- 
ment found  in  verse  i]  :  but  some,  being  used  until  now 
[being  but  recently  converted  from  paganism]  to  the  idol,  eat 
as  of  a  thing  sacrificed  to  an  idol ;  and  their  conscience 
being  weak  is  defiled.  8  But  food  will  not  commend 
us  to  God:  neither,  if  w^e  eat  not,  are  w^e  the  worse  ; 
nor,  if  we  eat,  are  we  the  better.  [There  is  no  inherent 
virtue  either  in  eating  or  fasting.]  9  But  take  heed  lest  by 
any  means  this  liberty  of  yours  become  a  stumbling- 
block  to  the  weak.  10  For  if  a  man  see  thee  who  hast 
knowledge  sitting  at  meat  in  an  idol's  temple  [Literally, 
idoleum,  or  idol-house ;  a  term  coined  by  the  Jews  to  avoid  dese- 
crating the  word  "temple"  by  applying  it  to  seats  of  idolatry. 
The  idol  temples  were  frequently  used  as  banqueting-houses; 
but  for  a  Christian  to  feast  in  such  a  place  was  a  reckless  abuse 
of  liberty],  will  not  his  conscience,  if  he  is  weak,  be 
emboldened  [literally,  built  up,  as  at  verse  i — built  up  in 
evil,  not  in  Christ]  to  eat  things  sacrificed  to  idols?  [will 
he  not  eat  as  a  worshiper,  and  not  sinless  as  you  do?]  11 
For  through  thy  knowledge  he  that  is  weak  perisheth, 
the  brother  for  whose  sake  Christ  died.  [Paul  here 
presents  a  new  appeal,  of  unapproachable  pathos  and  power. 
The  world  had  never  before  heard  any  such  reason  why  mercy 
should  be  shown  to  the  weak.]  12  And  thus,  sinning 
against  the  brethren,  and  wounding  their  conscience 
when  it  is  weak,  ye  sin  against  Christ,  [who  suffers  with 
the  very  least  of  his  servants  (Matt.  18:  6;  25:  40,  45).  Corinth 
was  full  of  temples,  and  sacrifices  were  daily  and  abundant. 
Part  of  the  meat  of  these  sacrifices  went  to  the  priests,  part 
was  burnt  on  the  altar,  and  part  was  returned  to  the  worshiper. 


CONCERNING  IDOLATROUS  MEAT,    ETC.    87 

The  priests'  and  the  worshiper's  parts  were  frequently  sold  to 
the   butchers,  who    in  turn  vended   the    same    in    the    public 
markets.     Such  sacrificial  meat  was  so  plentiful,  and  was  so 
indistinguishably  mingled   with  other  meats,  that   a  Christian 
could   hardly   avoid  using  it  unless    he   refrained    from    meat 
altogether.     He  could  not  attend  any  of  the  public   banquets, 
nor  dine   with   his  pagan  friends  or   relatives,    without  being 
almost   sure    to    eat   such    meat.      The     Jews    illustrated   the 
difficulty,  for  wherever  they  lived  they  required  a  butcher  of 
their  own  who  certified  the  meat  which  he  sold  by  affixing  to 
it  a  leaden  seal,  on  which  was  engraved  the   word  kashar — 
"lawful."     Under  such  circumstances  the  strong-minded  made 
bold  to  eat  such  sacrificial  meat,  contending  that  the  idol,  being 
a  nonentity,  could  in  no  way  contaminate  it.     But  there  were 
others  having  less  knowledge,  and  weaker   consciences,  who 
could  not  shake   off   the  power  of  old   habits,    thoughts   and 
associations,  and  who  therefore  could  not  free  themselves  from 
their  former  reverence  for  the  idol,  but  looked  upon  it  as  really 
representing  something — a  false  something,  but  still  a  reality. 
To  such  the  sacrificial  meat  was  part  of  a  real  sacrifice,  and 
was  contaminating.     In  answering,  therefore,  Paul  states  the 
correctness  of  the  position  that  the  idol,  being  nothing,  does 
not   contaminate    meat   sacrificed   to   it,    and    urges    that   the 
Christian's  knowledge  of  God  and  relationship  to  him  preclude 
all  thought  of  reality  in  idols.     But,  nevertheless,  because  it  is 
a  cruel  sin   against  Christ   to   wound  those   already   weak  in 
conscience,  he   pleads  that  the   strong  use    forbearance,    not 
privilege;    love,  not  knowledge,  lest  they  make  the  death  of 
Christ  of  none  effect  as  to  such  weaklings.     The  principle  may 
be  applied  to  many  modern  amusements  and  indulgences  which 
the  strong  regard  as  harmless,  but  which  they  should  rejoice  to 
sacrifice  rather  than  endanger  weaker  lives.]     13  Wherefore, 
if  meat  causeth  my  brother  to  stumble,  I  will  eat  no 
flesh   for   evermore,  that  I  cause  not  my   brother  to 
stumble.     [To  the  Corinthians  Paul  says   "take   heed"    (v. 
9) ;    but  for  himself  he  proposes  a  sublime   consecration    and 
perpetual  self-sacrifice.     The  apostle  would  not  make  the  weak 


88     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

brother  a  tyrant,  as  he  is  often  disposed  to  become.  He 
clearly  defines  him  as  being  wrong,  but  pleads  that  his  errors 
may  be  humored  for  mercy's  sake.] 


V. 

FIFTH   RESPONSE,    AS   TO   HIS   APOSTOLICITY 

9:  1-27 

[False  or  factional  teachers  coming  to  Corinth  expected  to  be 
supported  by  the  church  according  to  the  usual  custom,  but 
were  hampered  by  the  example  of  Paul,  who  had  taken  noth- 
ing for  his  services.  To  justify  themselves  and  to  discredit 
Paul,  some  of  them  appear  to  have  gone  so  far  as  to  deny 
Paul's  appointment  as  an  apostle,  and  to  use  his  failure  to  de- 
mand wages  as  an  evidence  of  their  assertion.  They  argued 
that  he  knew  he  was  not  an  apostle,  and  so  forbore  through 
shame  to  ask  an  apostle's  pay.  To  settle  this  controversy,  the 
Corinthians  asked  some  such  question  as  this:  "Explain  why, 
being  an  apostle,  you  did  not  take  the  wages  due  you  as  such." 
Paul  begins  his  answer  with  four  questions  which  show  both 
surprise  and  indignation.]  1  Am  I  not  free?  [All  free 
men  were  entitled  to  wages  for  work  done.  Only  slaves 
worked  without  compensation.  See  verse  19.]  Am  I  not 
an  apostle  ?  [and  so  more  entitled  to  wages  than  an  ordinary, 
less  approved  Christian  teacher.]  Have  I  not  seen  Jesus 
our  Lord?  [Apostles  were  to  be  witnesses  of  Jesus'  resur- 
rection (Acts  i:  22 ;  2;  32  ;  10:  4),  and  so  it  was  necessary  that 
they  should  have  seen  the  risen  Christ.  But  Paul  had  seen 
more ;  on  the  way  to  Damascus,  not  only  the  risen,  but  the 
glorified,  Christ  had  appeared  to  him.  This  was  Paul's  first 
proof  of  aposdeship.]  Are  not  ye  my  work  in  the  Lord? 
[The  presence  of  a  church  in  Corinth,  having  in  it  Christians 
converted  by  Paul  and  living  in  the  Lord,  was  the  second 
proof  of  his  apostleship.  Such  work  could  not  be  done  by  im- 
postors—Matt. 7:  15-20.]     2  If  to  others  I  am  not  an  apos- 


AS    TO  HIS  APOSTOLICITY  89 

tie,  yet  at  least  I  am  to  you ;  for  the  seal  of  mine 
apostleship  are  ye  in  the  Lord.  [An  argu^neyihnn  ad 
hominem.  Whatever  Paul  might  be  in  the  estimation  of  Juda- 
izers  and  enemies,  he  must  still  be  held  as  an  apostle  by  those 
who  owed  their  spiritual  life  to  him,  for  if  he  were  no  apostle, 
they  were  no  Christians,  and  vice  versa.  As  the  seal  vouched 
for  the  genuineness  and  validity  of  the  document  to  which  it 
was  attached,  so  these  Corinthian  converts  by  their  existence 
vouched  for  Paul's  apostleship.]  3  My  defence  to  them 
that  examine  me  is  this.  [This  verse  refers  to  what  pre- 
cedes it.  It  means  that  when  called  to  defend  his  apostleship, 
Paul  would  point  to  the  presence  of  a  church  of  his  established 
in  Corinth  as  his  answer.  A  similar  answer  had  satisfied  the 
other  apostles  (Gal.  2:  6-10.)  Thus  having  proved  his  apostle- 
ship, Paul  proceeds  to  discuss  the  rights  and  privileges  appur- 
tenant to  it.]  4  Have  we  no  right  to  eat  and  to  drink? 
[are  we  not  entitled  to  be  fed  by  the  church  ?]  5  Have  we 
no  right  to  lead  about  [in  our  constant  journeyings]  a  wife 
that  is  a  believer  [/.  e.,  a  lawful  wife;  it  was  unlawful  to 
marry  an  unbeliever — 2  Cor.  6:  14-16],  even  as  the  rest  of 
the  apostles  [this  passage  creates  a  fair  presumption  that  at 
least  the  majority  of  the  apostles  were  married],  and  the 
brethren  of  the  Lord  [For  their  names  see  Matt.  13:  55. 
For  their  relation  to  Jesus,  see  ''Fourfold  Gospel,"  pp.  119,  224- 
226],  and  Cephas  ?  [This  apostle  was  married  (Matt.  8:  14); 
yet  Catholics  claim  him  as  the  first  pope.  If  all  these  apostles 
were  allowed  maintenance  for  themselves  and  their  wives, 
Paul  had  equal  right  to  demand  that  the  church  support  his 
wife  had  he  chosen  to  marry.]  6  Or  I  only  and  Barnabas 
[Though  not  one  of  the  twelve,  he  is  called  an  apostle  (Acts 
14:  14),  for  he  was  a  messenger  or  apostle  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  of  the  church  at  Antioch  ( Acts  13:  2,)  and  was  associated 
with  Paul  (Gal.  2:  9).  His  name  was  illustrious  enough  at 
Corinth  to  give  countenance  to  Paul's  course.  If  Barnabas 
and  Paul  wrought  out  their  self-support  to  be  nobly  independ- 
ent, did  their  voluntary  sacrifice  of  rights  abolish  those  rights, 
or  prove  that  they  never  existed?     This  late  reference  to  Bar- 


90     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

nabas  is  interesting,  for  it  shows  that  he  was  still  at  work  and 
was  still  loved  of  Paul  despite  their  disagreement  concerning 
John  Mark.  Having  thus  proved  his  right  to  maintenance  by 
the  example  of  other  church  leaders,  Paul  now  goes  on  to  give 
an  argument  in  six  heads  showing  that  the  practice  of  these 
leaders  was  wholly  lawful  and  proper.  First  argument:  Wages 
for  service  is  the  rule  in  all  employment;  in  proof  of  this,  three 
instances  are  cited,  the  soldier,  the  vine-dresser,  the  shepherd], 
have  we  not  a  right  to  forbear  working?  7  What 
soldier  ever  serveth  at  his  own  charges?  who  planteth 
a  vineyard,  and  eateth  not  the  fruit  thereof?  or  who 
feedeth  a  flock,  and  eateth  not  of  the  milk  of  the  flock? 
[In  the  East,  vine-dressers  and  shepherds  are  still  thus  paid  in 
kind.  Work  without  wages  would  foster  rascality,  and  it  is 
therefore  an  unhealthy  principle  to  use  in  church  matters. 
Second  argument:  The  law  of  Moses  allowed  wages  for  work.] 
8  Do  I  speak  these  things  after  the  manner  of  men  ? 
or  saith  not  the  law  also  the  same  ?  [Paul  asks  these  two 
questions  to  show  that  while  he  has  appealed  to  human  author- 
ity, he  has  also  divine  authority  for  the  principle  which  he 
asserts.]  9  For  it  is  written  in  the  law  of  Moses  [Deut. 
25:  4],  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox  when  he  treadeth 
out  the  corn.  [Grain  in  the  East  has  never  been  threshed 
by  machinery.  Though  flails  are  used,  it  is  usually  threshed 
out  by  oxen.  These  are  driven  over  it  to  tramp  out  the  grain, 
and  they  sometimes  draw  a  small  sled  or  threshing  instrument 
after  them.  The  law  forbade  the  muzzling  of  an  ox  thus 
employed,  and  in  the  East  this  law  is  still  obeyed.]  Is  it  for 
the  oxen  that  God  careth,  10  or  saith  he  it  assuredly  for 
our  sake?  Yea,  for  our  sake  it  was  written:  because 
he  that  ploweth  ought  to  plow  in  hope,  and  he  that 
thresheth,  to  thresh  in  hope  of  partaking.  [Those  fond  of 
carping  and  caviling  have  attempted  to  use  this  passage  to 
prove  that  Paul  asserts  that  God  does  not  care  for  animals. 
Such  a  view  is  abundantly  contradicted  by  Scripture  (Job  38: 
41;  Ps.  147:9;  Matt.  6:  26;  Luke  12:  24).  Paul's  meaning  is 
clear.     In  giving  the  law,  Qo^.' s  proximate  design  was  to  care 


AS    TO  HIS  APOSTOLICITY  91 

for  oxen,  but  his  ultimate  design  was  to  enforce  the  principle 
that  labor  should  not  go  unrewarded ;  that  each  workman 
might  discharge  his  task  in  cheerful  expectation  that  he  would 
receive  wages  for  his  employment.  Paul  asserts  that  God  does 
not  legislate  for  oxen  and  forget  men.  It  is  an  argument  a 
minori  ad  magus,  such  as  Christ  himself  employed  (Matt.  6: 
26-30.)  Third  argument:  The  law  of  exchange  demands  an 
equivalent  for  value  received.]  11  If  we  sowed  unto  you 
spiritual  things,  is  it  a  great  matter  if  we  shall  reap 
your  carnal  things  ?  [What  was  earthly  support  in  compari- 
son with  the  riches  of  the  gospel  ?  If  Paul  had  demanded  his 
full  carnal  recompense,  it  would  have  been  a  meager  compen- 
sation for  blessings  and  benefits  which  can  never  be  weighed 
in  dollars  and  cents.  Fourth  argument:  The  concessions 
which  you  have  made  in  supporting  others  having  inferior 
claims  debar  you  from  thus  denying  apostolic  claims.]  12  If 
others  partake  of  this  right  over  you,  do  not  we  yet 
more  ?  Nevertheless  we  did  not  use  this  right;  but  we 
bear  all  things,  that  we  may  cause  no  hindrance  to  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  [Since  Paul  had  left  Corinth,  other 
teachers  had  been  supported  by  the  church,  and  this  stopped 
them  from  denying  Paul's  right  to  support.  The  apostle  had 
not  used  this  right,  for  to  do  so  would  have  hindered  him  in 
planting  the  church.  It  would  retard  the  progress  of  any  move- 
ment to  demand  salaries  under  it  before  demonstrating  that  it 
was  either  beneficent  or  necessary.  To  have  demanded  main- 
tenance subsequently  would  have  given  Paul's  enemies  a 
chance  to  impugn  his  motives,  and  say  that  he  labored  for 
earthly  gain.  Fifth  argument :  Priests,  whose  office,  like  the 
apostolic,  is  purely  sacred,  are  universally  maintained  by  shar- 
ing in  the  sacrifices  which  they  offer.]  13  Know  ye  not 
that  they  that  minister  about  sacred  things  eat  of  the 
things  of  the  temple  [the  offerings,  etc.],  and  they  that 
w^ait  upon  the  altar  have  their  portion  w^ith  the  altar  ? 
[Num.  18:  8-13;  Deut.  8:  i.  Sixth  argument:  Christ  himself 
ordained  that  ministers  should  be  supported  by  those  whom 
they  serve.]     14  Even  so  did  the  Lord  ordain  that  they 


92     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

that  proclaim  the  gospel  should  live  of  the  gospel.  [Matt. 
lo!:  10 ;  Luke  lo:  7.  This  precept  was  all  which  Paul  needed 
to  urge.  He  no  doubt  elaborated  this  argument  that  the 
Corinthians  might  be  fully  convinced  that  he  was  perfectly 
aware  of  his  rights  at  the  time  when  he  waived  them.  The 
apostle  next  sets  forth  more  fully  why  he  preferred  to  support 
himself  rather  than  receive  compensation  from  the  churches.] 
15  But  I  have  used  none  of  these  things  \_i.e.,  these 
rights]:  and  I  write  not  these  things  that  it  may  be  so 
done  in  my  case  [Paul  had  a  right  to  receive  wages  for  his 
labor,  and  this  right  was  guaranteed  both  by  the  customs  of 
the  people  and  the  law  of  Moses ;  he  also  had  a  right  to  some 
recompense  as  an  equivalent  for  the  blessings  which  he  be- 
stowed. Moreover,  he  had  a  right  to  receive  as  fair  treatment 
as  that  bestowed  upon  others.  Again,  he  had  a  right  as  a  man 
engaged  in  sacred  affairs  to  be  paid  by  those  who  enjoyed  his 
services,  and  lastly  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  the  law  of  Christ, 
demanded  that  he  be  supported.  Paul  had  urged  none  of 
these  rights,  nor  did  he  now  assert  them  that  he  might  shame 
the  Corinthians  for  their  neglect  or  prepare  them  to  change 
their  conduct  toward  him  when  he  visited  them  as  he  intended]; 
for  it  were  good  for  me  rather  to  die,  than  that  any 
man  should  make  my  glorying  void.  [So  far  from  desir- 
ing pay  from  the  Corinthians,  he  preferred  to  die  rather  than 
receive  it,  for  to  do  so  would  deprive  him  of  the  glory  and  joy 
of  preaching  the  gospel  without  earthly  reward.  By  denying  him- 
self wages,  Paul  obtained  free  access  to  all  men,  and  could  found 
new  churches.  He  gloried  in  the  salvation  of  souls  and  in  the 
honoring  of  Christ.]  16  For  if  I  preach  the  gospel,  I 
have  nothing  to  glory  of;  for  necessity  is  laid  upon 
me ;  for  w^oe  is  unto  me,  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel.  17 
For  if  I  do  this  of  mine  own  will,  I  have  a  rew^ard:  but 
if  not  of  mine  own  will,  I  have  a  stewardship  intrusted 
to  me.  [He  was  commanded  to  preach  the  gospel.  He 
could  not  glory  therefore  in  doing  it,  for  he  did  not  do  it  of  his 
own  free  will  or  choice  (however  cheerfully  and  willingly  he 
might  do  it),  but  because  it  was  a  stewardship  which  he  was 


AS    TO  I  I  IS  APOSTOLICITY  93 

obliged  to  discharge  (Luke  17:  10).  Had  he  been  free  to 
preach  the  gospel  or  not,  he  might  have  gloried  in  preaching 
it.  But  as  it  was,  he  had  to  seek  glory  elsewhere.]  18 
What  then  is  my  reward  ?  That,  when  I  preach  the 
gospel,  I  may  make  the  gospel  without  charge,  so  as 
not  to  use  to  the  full  my  right  in  the  gospel.  [He  found 
his  reward  in  the  happiness  of  preaching  the  gospel  without 
charge,  and  in  the  feeling  that  as  a  steward  he  had  not  used 
his  privileges  to  the  full,  and  so  was  far  from  abusing  them. 
Paul  so  loved  those  whom  Christ  called  that  he  counted  it  a 
privilege  to  be  permitted  to  serve  them  gratuitously.  But  such 
a  course  is  not  without  danger  to  the  church — 2  Cor.  12:  13.] 

19  For  though  I  was  free  from  all  men  [and  therefore 
had  a  right  to  demand  wages  of  them  and  ignore  their  preju- 
dices], I  brought  myself  under  bondage  to  all,  that  I 
might  gain  the  more.  [Here  was  yet  another  joy  which  he 
found  in  preaching  a  free  gospel.  His  spirit  of  self-sacrifice 
won  the  confidence  of  the  people,  and  enabled  him  to  make  a 
larger  number  of  converts.  Though  entitled  to  wages  as  a 
free  man  he  preferred  to  work  as  a  slave  for  nothing,  account- 
ing the  additional  disciples  which  he  thus  made  as  a  more 
acceptable  hire  than  his  maintenance.  Moreover,  after  the 
manner  of  a  slave,  he  had  adjusted  himself  to  the  prejudices 
and  idiosyncrasies  of  each  class  which  he  served  as  far  as  he 
innocently  could ;  that,  by  having  a  larger  measure  of  their 
confidence  and  good-will,  he  might  be  able  to  win  a  larger 
number  to  Christ.     He  now  describes  this  part  of  his  service.] 

20  And  to  the  Jews  I  became  as  a  Jew^  [not  a  Jew,  but 
/z'y^^ one],  that  I  might  gain  Jews  [Paul  observed  the  Jew- 
ish distinction  as  to  meat  (ch.  8:  13) ;  and  performed  their 
rites  as  to  vows  (Acts  21:  26)  ;  and  honored  their  feasts  (Acts 
20:  16);  and  classed  himself  among  their  Pharisees  (Acts  23: 
6);  and  even  had  circumcision  administered  (Acts  12:3), 
where  it  did  not  interfere  with  the  liberty  of  Gentiles  (Gal.  2: 
3-5).  All  these  were  innocent  concessions  to  and  harmless 
compliances  with  the  law.  Though  Paul  was  under  no  obli- 
gation to  conform  his  conduct  to  the  prejudices  of  others,  he 


94     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

waived  his  own  predeliction  in  all  matters  that  were  indifferent; 
but  his  unbending,  unyielding  loyalty  in  all  matters  of  principle 
was  so  well  known  that  he  does  not  deem  it  necessary  to  state 
that  he  never  surrendered  or  sacrificed  a  single  truth  or  right 
for  any  cause];  to  them  that  are  under  the  law  [This 
expression  includes  proselytes  as  well  as  Jews.  To  these  also 
Paul  made  harmless  concessions],  as  under  the  law,  not 
being  myself  under  the  law,  that  I  might  gain  them 
that  are  under  the  law;  21  to  them  that  are  without 
law  [pagans  and  Gentiles— Rom.  2:  12],  as  without  law 
[Rom.  6:  14.  He  did  not  seek  to  enforce  the  laws  of  Moses 
among  the  Gentiles,  as  did  the  Jews,  and  he  refrained  from 
insulting  heathens  in  their  beliefs  (Acts  19:  37),  and  dealt 
gently  with  their  prejudices — Acts  17:  30],  not  being  with- 
out law  to  God  [for  the  Gentiles  themselves  were  not 
wholly  without  such  law — Rom.  2:  14,  15],  but  under  law 
to  Christ  [Paul  did  not  forget  his  obligations  to  the  moral 
law,  nor  his  duty  to  the  will  of  Christ.  Though  behaving  him- 
self as  a  Jew  in  Jerusalem  in  things  indifferent,  he  rebuked 
Peter  openly  for  playing  the  Jew  in  Antioch  in  matters  of 
principle  (Gal.  2:  11-21).  Peter  knew  better — Acts  15:  10], 
that  I  might  gain  them  that  are  without  law.  22  To 
the  weak  I  became  weak,  that  I  might  gain  the  weak 
[The  preceding  chapter  is  the  best  comment  on  this  passage. 
Paul  was  uniformly  self-sacrificing  and  patient  with  those  who 
were  overscrupulous]:  I  am  become  all  things  to  all  men, 
that  I  may  by  all  means  save  some.  [With  untiring 
zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  Paul  accommodated  himself  to  all 
the  shapes  and  forms  of  character  which  he  met,  if  he  could 
do  so  without  sin— ch.  10:  33;  2  Tim.  2:  10.]  23  And  I  do 
all  things  for  the  gospel's  sake,  that  I  may  be  a  joint 
partaker  thereof.  [He  made  every  sacrifice  for  the  success 
of  the  gospel,  that  he  might  share  with  other  successful  apos- 
tles and  evangelists  in  its  triumphs  and  blessings  (John  4:  36). 
He  recommends  to  others  a  like  spirit  of  abstinence  and  sacri- 
fice, and  to  illustrate  the  necessity  and  utility  of  such  a  course  he 
draws  some  comparisons  between  those  who  run  the  Christian 


AS    TO  HIS  APOSTOLICITY  95 

race,  and  the  athletes  who  competed  for  the  prizes  in  the 
Grecian  games.  The  Corinthians  were  famiHar  with  the  ways 
and  customs  of  these  athletes,  for  one  of  the  great  race- 
courses lay  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Corinth,  and  at  this 
time  it  was  the  most  noted  in  Greece,  having  even  surpassed 
the  Olympic  in  its  popularity.  It  was  held  triennially.  Parts 
of  its  stadium  are  still  seen  as  one  goes  from  Corinth  to 
Athens.]  24  Know  ye  not  that  they  that  run  in  a  race 
run  all,  but  one  receiveth  the  prize?  [Phil.  3:  12-14.] 
Even  so  run ;  that  ye  may  attain.  [In  the  Greek  con- 
tests there  was  but  one  prize  for  each  group  of  contestants,  and 
that  was  awarded  to  the  winner.  But  the  Christian  race  is 
not  competitive  :  each  may  win  a  prize,  but  he  does  so  by 
contending  with  his  own  sinful  nature.  He  must  run  faith- 
fully, earnestly  and  continuously  if  he  would  win  in  the 
race  against  his  lower  self.]  25  And  every  man  that  striv- 
eth  in  the  games  exerciseth  self-control  in  all  things. 
[As  Paul  denied  himself  that  the  gospel  might  not  be  hin- 
dered, so  each  athlete,  whether  he  intended  to  run,  wrestle 
or  fight,  pursued  a  course  of  training  and  abstinence  that  was 
painful,  protracted  and  severe,  in  order  that  no  fatty  tissues 
or  depleted  muscles  might  hinder  him  in  his  struggle  for  vic- 
tory.] Now  they  do  it  to  receive  a  corruptible  crown  ; 
but  we  an  incorruptible.  For  this  worthless,  withering 
symbol  of  victory,  men  made  measureless  sacrifice.  For  the 
incomparably  better  and  fadeless  crown  of  eternal  life,  how 
cheerfully  Christians  should  deny  and  discipline  themselves — 
I  Pet.  5:4.]  26  I  therefore  [realizing  the  value  of  that  for 
which  I  contend]  so  run,  as  not  uncertainly  [without 
doubt  or  hesitation.  Paul  felt  sure  of  the  course  which  led  to 
the  goal,  and  certain  as  to  the  reward  which  he  would  attain 
when  the  race  was  over— 2  Tim.  i:  12 ;  4:  8];  so  fight  I,  as 
not  beating  the  air  [The  allusion  here  is  to  the  boxer  who, 
in  blind  confusion,  strikes  wide  of  the  mark,  and  misses  his 
antagonist.  For  an  instance  of  vain  effort  similarly  expressed, 
see  ch.  14:9;  Virgil's  ^neid  5-446]:  27  but  I  buffet  my 
body,  and  bring  it  into  bondage  [The  body,  being,  as  it  is 


96     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

in  part,  the  seat  and  organ  of  sin,  has  become  the  BibHcal 
term  to  express  our  whole  sinful  nature  (Rom.  8: 13).  Paul 
found  in  this  old  sinful  man  with  its  corrupt  affections  an  ever- 
present  antagonist.  He  ran  no  uncertain  race  with  his  body, 
realizing  that  God  would  give  him  the  victory  if  he  ran  his 
best.  He  fought  no  uncertain  fight  with  it,  but  so  smote  it  as 
to  bring  it  into  subjection.  By  smiting  he  does  not  mean 
literal  flagellation,  self-torture  or  even  fasting,  but  he  means 
that  he  subdues  his  nature  by  denying  its  lusts  (Col.  3:  5),  and 
that  he  employed  his  body  in  noble  labor,  with  all  self-denial 
and  self-sacrifice,  for  the  good  of  others — 2  Cor.  6:  4,  5  ;  10: 
23-33]:  lest  by  any  means,  after  that  I  have  preached 
to  others,  I  myself  should  be  rejected.  [The  word  trans- 
lated "preached  "  means  literally  to  "  proclaim  as  a  herald." 
It  is  the  word  used  in  tbe  New  Testament  to  describe  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  so  the  reader  is  at  liberty  to  follow 
the  English  version,  and  drop  the  metaphor  of  which  Paul  has 
been  making  use.  If  he  does  this,  then  Paul  tells  him  literally 
that  even  he  had  fears  that  he  might  fall  from  grace,  and 
therefore  daily  worked  out  his  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling  (Phil.  2:  12.)  But  if  "preached"  be  translated 
"acted  or  proclaimed  as  herald,"  then  Paul  conveys  to  us  the 
same  thought  metaphorically.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  herald  to 
move  up  and  down  the  lists  and  proclaim  aloud  the  laws  of  the 
contests,  the  names  of  the  contestants,  victors,  etc.  These 
laws  said  in  brief  that  no  slave,  thief,  or  man  of  bad  morals, 
would  be  admitted  as  a  contestant.  Thus  construed,  Paul 
expresses  a  fear  lest  having  laid  down  the  gospel  terms  of 
salvation  to  others,  he  himself  should  be  rejected  for  having 
failed  to  comply  with  the  very  rules  which  his  own  mouth  had 
proclaimed  (Luke  19:22;  Rom.  2:  1-3.  While  it  was  not 
customary  for  heralds  to  be  contestants,  such  a  thing  was  not 
impossible,  for  the  emperor  Nero  once  played  both  parts.  He 
was  combatant,  victor,  and  herald  to  proclaim  his  own  tri- 
umphs. The  metaphors  of  Paul,  like  the  parables  of  Jesus, 
caused  the  scenes  of  daily  life  to  suggest  great  spiritual  truths 
to  those  who  beheld  them. 


CONCERNING  IDOLATROUS  MEAT  97 


VI. 

RENEWAL    OF    RESPONSE    CONCERNING    IDOL- 
ATROUS  MEAT. 

lo:  i-ii:  I. 

[In  chapter  8  Paul  had  answered  the  question  of  the 
Corinthians  concerning  idolatrous  meat.  In  chapter  9  he 
answered  their  inquiries  concerning  his  apostleship,  and 
cloGcd  with  a  description  of  the  self-denial  which  he  exercised 
in  order  to  secure  his  crown,  and  a  statement  that  despite  all 
his  efforts  there  was  a  possibility  of  his  becoming  a  castaway. 
Now,  the  necessity  for  self-control  and  the  danger  of  apostasy 
were  the  two  principal  ideas  involved  in  the  discussion  of 
eating  idolatrous  meat,  and  so  the  apostle's  mind  swings  back 
to  that  subject,  and  he  again  treats  of  it,  illustrating  it  by 
analogies  drawn  from  the  history  of  Israel.]  1  For  I  would 
not,  brethren,  have  you  ignorant  [see  comment  on  i 
Thess.  4:  13],  that  our  fathers  were  all  under  the  cloud, 
and  all  passed  through  the  sea ;  2  and  were  all  bap- 
tized unto  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea  [Paul 
speaks  of  the  fathers  of  the  Jewish  race  as  "our  fathers," 
though  addressing  Gentiles.  The  patriarchs  of  Israel  were 
the  spiritual  fathers  of  Gentile  Christians  (Gal.  3:  7,  8,  29). 
Moreover,  the  patriarchal  and  Mosaic  dispensations  were  pre- 
paratory to  Christianity,  and  so,  in  a  certain  sense,  fathered  it. 
The  passage  through  the  Red  Sea  by  the  Israelites  was  in 
many  ways  analogous  to  Christian  baptism,  i.  It  stood  at  the 
beginning  of  a  journey  undertaken  by  a  divine  call,  and 
which  led  from  a  life  and  kingdom  of  bondage  to  a  land  of 
promise,  which  should  be  a  land  of  liberty  and  an  everlasting 
possession.  2.  Baptism  is  a  burial  (Rom.  6:  4).  With  a  wall 
of  water  on  each  side  and  a  cloud  over  them,  the  Israelites 
were  buried  from  the  sight  of  the  Egyptians,  or  any  others  who 
stood  upon  the  shores  of  the  sea.  Relying  on  the  statement  at 
Ex.  14;  19-21  that  the  cloud  was  between  the  Egyptians  and 


98     FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORINTHIANS 

the  Israelites,  and  hence  behind  the  Israelites  part  of  the  night, 
zealous  paidobaptists  have  argued  that  at  no  part  of  the  night 
were  the  Israelites  under  the  cloud,  their  purpose  being  to 
avoid  the  idea  of  a  burial.  But  in  their  zeal  they  have  contra- 
dicted Paul,  who  says  "under  the  cloud,"  "in  the  cloud,"  and 
who  elsewhere  speaks  of  baptism  as  a  burial.  Paul's  language 
here  implies  that  the  children  of  Israel  were  between  the  walls 
of  water  while  the  cloud  was  still  in  front  of  them,  and  so 
they  were  under  it  and  in  it  as  it  passed  to  their  rear.  3.  Bap- 
tism is  a  resurrection  (Rom.  6:  5).  "The  two  phrases,  'were 
under  the  cloud,'  and  'passed  through  the  sea,'  seem  to  pre- 
figure the  double  process  of  submersion  and  emersion  in 
baptism"  {Ca?ton  Cook).  The  baptism  of  the  Red  Sea  was  to 
Israel  a  death  to  Egypt,  and  a  birth  to  a  new  covenant.  4. 
Baptism  is  the  final  seal  of  discipleship  (Matt.  28:  19;  Gal.  3: 
28;  chap,  i:  13).  The  passage  of  the  Red  Sea  led  Israel  to 
fully  accept  Moses  as  their  master  and  leader  under  God — Ex. 
14:31];  3  and  did  all  eat  the  same  spiritual  food;  4 
and  did  all  drink  the  same  spiritual  drink :  for  they 
drank  of  a  spiritual  rock  that  followed  them  :  and 
the  rock  was  Christ.  [As  Israel  had  an  experience  an- 
swering to  baptism,  so  it  also  enjoyed  privileges  similar  to  the 
two  parts  of  the  Lord's  Supper;  viz.:  the  manna  (Ex.  16: 
13-22),  which  lasted  throughout  the  wilderness  journey  (Josh. 
5:  12),  and  which  answered  to  the  loaf;  and  water  from  the 
rock,  which  was  given  at  least  twice  (Ex.  17:  5-7  ;  Num.  20: 
7-13),  and  which  answered  to  the  wine.  Some  think  that  the 
manna  and  the  water  are  called  spiritual  because  they  had  a 
spiritual  origin,  being  produced  of  God  directly,  and  not  by 
the  ordinary  means  of  nature ;  and  others  think  that  they  are 
thus  described  because  they  were  typical  of  Christ.  But 
neither  of  these  views  is  suited  to  the  context,  for  Paul  is  here 
speaking  of  benefits  enjoyed  by  the  children  of  Israel  which 
ministered  to  their  spiritual  strength,  and  which  should  have 
kept  them  from  falling.  But  miraculous  food  is,  of  itself,  no 
more  strengthening  to  the  spirit  than  ordinary  food  (John  6: 
26,  27,  49) ;  and  a  type  confers  no  benefit  upon  those  who  do 


CONCERNING  IDOLATROUS  MEAT  99 

not  understand  it  and  are  not  conscious  of  it.  The  true  idea 
is  that  the  manna  and  the  water  were  so  miraculously  and 
providentially  supplied  that  the  people  could  scarcely  fail  to 
see  the  presence  and  the  goodness  of  God  in  them,  and  hence 
they  were  spiritual  food  and  drink  to  the  people  because  they 
would  waken  such  thoughts,  thanksgivings  and  aspirations  as 
would  give  spiritual  strength.  Paul  does  not  assert  that  the 
literal  rock  or  the  literal  water  followed  the  children  of  Israel 
on  their  journey,  and  hence  there  is  no  occasion  for  saying,  as 
do  Alford  and  others,  that  Paul  even  referred  to,  much  less 
accepted,  Jewish  fables  and  traditions  to  that  effect.  The  fact 
that  water  was  twice  supplied  by  Christ  at  different  periods 
would  be  sufficient  to  suggest  his  continual  presence  (Ex.  33  : 
14),  and  thus  continually  revive  their  thirsty  souls.  The  Cath- 
olics assert  that  there  are  seven  sacraments,  but  Paul  knew 
only  two  ordinances.  "The  whole  passage,"  says  Alford, 
*'is  a  standing  testimony,  incidentally,  \)\xi7?iostprovide?ztially, 
given  by  the  great  apostle  to  the  importance  of  the  Christian 
sacraments,  as  necessary  to  membership  of  Christ,  and  7iot 
mere  signs  or  remembrances:  and  an  inspired  protest  against 
those  who,  whether  as  individuals  or  sects,  would  lower  their 
dignity,  or  deny  their  necessity."  But  Paul  also  guards 
against  that  other  extreme  which  trusts  to  mere  ordinances 
for  salvation.]  5  Howbeit  with  most  of  them  God  was 
not  well  pleased :  for  they  were  overthrown  [literally, 
strewn  in  heaps]  in  the  wilderness.  [In  verse  24  of  the 
preceding  chapter  Paul  enforces  the  lesson  of  self-control  by 
showing  that  though  all  run,  yet  but  one  receives  the  prize. 
This  law,  which  the  Greeks  applied  to  a  mere  handful  of 
racers,  was  applied  of  God  with  like  rigor  and  stringency  to 
the  millions  of  Israel,  a  fact  which  Paul  emphasizes  by  the 
repeated  use  of  the  word  "all."  Though  «;// were  under  the 
cloud  and  all  passed  through  the  sea  and  all  were  baptized 
and  all  ate  and  drank  of  spiritual  provision,  yet  only  two, 
Caleb  and  Joshua,  entered  the  promised  land  (Deut.  i:  34-38; 
Num.  26:  64,  65).  What  was  true  of  racers  and  true  of 
Israel  may  also  be  true  of  Christians  if  they  fail  to  exercise 


100    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 

self-control.]  6  Now  these  things  were  our  examples, 
to  the  intent  we  should  not  lust  after  evil  things,  as 
they  also  lusted.  [Having  shown  that  the  Israelites  lost 
their  inheritance  despite  the  fact  that  they  were  prepared, 
sustained  and  strengthened  by  the  same  Christ  and  practically 
the  same  ordinances  enjoyed  by  the  Christian,  Paul  proceeds 
to  show  their  perfectness  as  examples  to  the  Corinthians  in  that 
they  fell  by  the  five  sins,  viz.:  lust,  idolatry,  fornication,  tempt- 
ing Christ,  murmuring,  which  were  the  besetting  sins  of  the 
Corinthians — and  of  all  succeeding  generations.  In  the  case 
of  Israel  the  punishment  was  directly  and  visibly  connected 
with  the  sin,  that  their  history  might  be  used  to  instruct  future 
generations;  for  in  this  life  punishment  is  not,  as  a  rule, 
summarily  and  immediately  meted  out  to  sinners.  In  fact,  if 
we  judge  by  appearances  only,  we  might  sometimes  even  think 
that  God  rewarded  crime  and  set  a  premium  on  sin.  The 
Scripture  records  show  that  such  appearances  are  deceptive, 
and  that  God's  punishments  are  sure,  though  they  may  be  long 
delayed.  Israel  lusted  for  what  God  withheld  and  murmured 
at  what  he  provided  (Num.  ii:  4,  33,  34).  As  Israel  looked 
back  with  regret  on  the  flesh  and  the  fish,  the  cucumbers, 
melons,  leeks,  onions  and  garlic  which  they  had  left  behind  in 
Egypt,  so  the  Corinthians  were  disposed  to  go  back  into  the 
old  life  and  heap  up  to  themselves  philosophical  teachers,  attend 
idolatrous  feasts,  etc.]  7  Neither  be  ye  idolaters,  as  were 
some  of  them ;  as  it  is  written,  The  people  sat  dow^n  to 
eat  and  drink,  and  rose  up  to  play.  [Israel  worshiped  the 
golden  calf,  Moloch,  Remphan,  Baal-peor,  etc.  The  ''playing" 
which  Paul  refers  to  (Ex.  32:  3-6,  19,  25)  was  familiar  to  the 
Corinthians,  who  had  indulged  in  such  licentious  sportfulness  in 
the  worship  of  Bacchus  and  Venus.  Dancing  was  the  common 
accompaniment  of  idolatry  (Horace  2:  12-19).  Eating  at  the 
feast  of  idols  was  the  very  privilege  for  which  the  Corinthians 
were  contending.]  8  Neither  let  us  commit  fornication, 
as  some  of  them  committed,  and  fell  in  one  day  three 
and  twenty  thousand.  [Num.  25:  1-9.  While  Paul  gives 
the  number  as  twenty-three  thousand,,  Moses  gives  it  as  twen- 


CONCERNING   IDOLATROUS  MEAT         101 

ty-four.  Alford  and  Kling  think  the  discrepancy  is  due  to  a 
failure  in  Paul's  memory,  but  why  should  the  Spirit  of  God  let 
him  thus  forget?  Grotius  says  that  a  thousand  were  slain  by 
Phinehas  and  his  followers,  and  the  rest  were  destroyed  by  the 
plague.  Kitto  varies  this  a  little  by  saying  that  Paul  gives  the 
number  that  fell  on  one  day,  as  his  words  show,  while  Moses 
gives  the  full  number  that  perished  on  both  days.  But  Bengel's 
solution  is  a  sufficient  one.  The  Hebrews  habitually  dealt  in 
round  numbers,  so  that  a  number  between  twenty-three  and 
twenty-four  thousand  could  be  correctly  stated  by  either  figure. 
Moses  gave  the  maximum  and  Paul  the  minimum.  The  sin 
mentioned  was  not  only  an  ordinary  accompaniment  of  idolatry, 
but  often  a  consecrated  part  of  it,  as  in  the  rites  of  Baal-peor 
among  the  Moabites  and  those  of  Venus  among  the  Corinthi- 
ans. Sins  are  gregarious.]  9  Neither  let  us  make  trial 
of  the  Lord,  as  some  of  them  made  trial,  and  perished 
by  the  serpents.  [Num.  21:4-6.  Compare  John  3:14,  15. 
To  "tempt"  here  means  to  try  beyond  all  patience  or  endur- 
ance. Israel  tempted  God  in  the  case  referred  to,  by  its 
spirit  of  unbelieving  discontent.  Compare  also  Ex.  17:  2-7; 
Num.  14:  22.  As  Israel  became  discontented  under  the  hard- 
ships of  the  wilderness,  so  the  Corinthians  were  liable  to  a  like 
discontent  because  of  the  severe  persecutions  brought  upon 
them  by  ungodly  men.  Chrysostom,  Theodoret  and  CEcu- 
minius  think  that  Paul  warns  the  Corinthians  against  tempting 
God  by  asking  for  signs.  But  this  was  not  the  besetting  sin  of 
the  Greeks  (ch.  i:  22),  nor  is  there  any  evidence  that  the 
Christians  at  Corinth  were  at  all  addicted  to  this  sin.  Besides, 
it  is  at  variance  with  the  analogy  which  Paul  has  cited.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  men  tempt  God  by  putting  his  fidelity,  patience 
or  power  to  unnecessary  tests — Matt.  4:7;  Acts  5:9;  Heb. 
3:  9.]  10  Neither  murmur  ye,  as  some  of  them  mur- 
mured, and  perished  by  the  destroyer.  [Num.  14:  2,  29 ; 
16:  41-49.  The  Israelites  murmured  against  God  by  rebelling 
against  and  rejecting  his  servants ;  and  the  Corinthians  were 
at  this  time  murmuring  against  Paul,  the  servant  of  Christ. 
They  were  also  liable  to  complain  of  their  separation  from  the 

8 


102    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

pagan  world,  just  as  many  to-day  speak  resentfully  when  the 
pulpit  proclaims  those  Christian  principles  which  are  restrictive 
of  worldly  excesses.  The  angel  of  death  is  called  the  destroyer 
(Ex.  12:  23;  2  Sam.  24:  16).  The  Jews  commonly  called  this 
angel  Sammael.  The  "all"  of  grace  and  privilege,  found  in 
verses  1-4,  stands  in  sad  contrast  to  the  "some  of  them"  of 
deflection  and  apostasy  found  in  verses  7-10.  God  showed 
mercy  to  all,  but  some  disobeyed  in  one  way  and  some  in 
another  until  almost  all  had  proved  unworthy  of  his  mercy.] 
11  Now  these  things  happened  unto  them  by  way  of 
example  ;  and  they  were  written  for  our  admonition, 
upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  ages  are  come.  [The  facts 
of  the  past  become  examples  for  the  present,  because  God 
rules  by  unchanging  principles  (Rom.  15:4).  The  Christian 
dispensation  is  called  "the  ends  of  the  ages"  because  it  is  the 
last  and  final  dispensation  (i  John  2:  18;  Heb.  9:26;  Matt. 
13:38,  39;  I  Pet.  4:7).  The  Christian  is  the  heir  of  all  the 
past,  but  none  shall  inherit  after  him.]  12  Wherefore  let 
him  that  thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall. 
[The  weaknesses  of  saints  in  former  days,  notwithstanding 
their  privileges,  should  warn  us  of  our  own  frailty  lest  we  pre- 
sume to  dally  with  temptation,  and  so  fall.  This  verse  is  a 
stumbling-block  to  those  who  hold  the  doctrine  "once  in 
grace,  always  in  grace."  Whedon  aptly  says  of  the  Israelites: 
"If  they  never  truly  stood,  they  never  fell;  and  if  they  fell, 
they  once  stood.  If  their  fault  and  ruin  was  in  actually 
falli?ig,  then  their  salvation  would  have  been  in  actually  stand- 
ing— standing  just  as  they  were."  Their  history  does  not 
shoyv  the  mere  possibility  of  apostasy,  but  demonstrates  its 
actual  reality,  and  the  sad  prevalence  of  it.  But  the  apostle, 
well  aware  that  so  weighty  and  forceful  an  argument  would 
breed  a  spirit  of  hopelessness  and  despair  in  the  breasts  of  the 
Corinthians,  now  sets  himself  to  show  that  the  temptations  so 
fatal  to  Israel  need  not  prove  similarly  disastrous  to  them  if 
they  were  not  presumptuous,  but  looked  to  God  to  aid  them  in 
escaping  such  temptations.]  13  There  hath  no  temptation 
taken  you  but  such  as  man  can  bear:  but  God  is  faith- 


CONCERNING  IDOLATROUS  MEAT         103 

ful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tempted  above  that 
ye  are  able  ;  but  will  with  the  temptation  make  also  the 
way  of  escape,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  endure  it.     [The 
temptations  which  befell  the  Corinthians  were  such  as  men  had 
resisted   and  could  resist.     The  temptations  which  had  over- 
come   some  of  the   Israelites  had  been  resisted   by  others  of 
their  number.    The  faithfulness  of  God  who  called  them  would 
give  them  strength  for  the  journey  which  he  required  of  them 
(2  Pet.  2:  9  ;  2  Thess.  3:  3  ;   i  Thess.  5:  23,  24).    God  shows  his 
faithfulness   by  providing   an  opportunity   of   escape,  and   we 
must  show  our  faithfulness  by  seizing  the  opportunity  when  it 
presents  itself.     As  temptations  vary,  so  the   means  of  escape 
also  vary.     God  permits  temptation  for  our  strengthening,  not 
for  our   destruction.]     14    Wherefore,  my  beloved,    flee 
from  idolatry.     15  I  speak  as  to  wise  men ;  judge  ye 
what  I  say.     [As  idolatry  had  proved  the  mother  of  sins  in 
Israel,  so  had  it  also  in  Corinth.     Paul,  therefore,  in  exhorting 
his  readers  to  flee  from  it,  appeals  to  their  own  past  experience. 
They   were  wise  men  in  this   respect,  and   could,   out  of   an 
abundant  personal  knowledge,  judge  as  to  the  wisdom   of  his 
counsel  when  he  thus  told  them  to  shun  all  that  pertained  to  it. 
Idolatry  was  so  interwoven  with  lust,  drunkenness,  reveling, 
etc.,  that  it  practically  included   them,  and  it  was  not  to  be 
dallied  with.     If  we  go  to  the  verge  of  what  is  allowable,  we 
make  it  easy  for  Satan  to  draw  us  over  the  line  into    what  is 
sinful.]     16  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless   [Not 
the  cup  which  brings  blessing  (though  it  does  that),  but  the 
cup  over   which   blessing  is  spoken,  the  cup  consecrated  by 
benediction.     Wine  becomes  a  symbol  of  the  blood  of  Christ 
by  such  a  consecration,  and  even  ordinary  food  is  sanctified  by 
prayer  (i   Tim.  4:4,  5.     Compare  Matt.  26:26;    Luke  9:16). 
But  the  plural  "we"  used  in  this   paragraph   shows  that  the 
blessing  and  breaking  were  not  the  acts  of  the  minister  exer- 
cising priestly  functions,  but  were  the  acts  of  the   whole  con- 
gregation through  the  minister  as  their  representative.     Sacer- 
dotal consecration  of  the  elements  is  not  found  here  nor  any- 
where else  in  the  New  Testament],  is  it  not  a  communion 


104    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

of  [a  participation  in  or  common  ownership  of]  the  blood  of 
Christ  ?  The  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  a  com- 
munion of  the  body  of  Christ?  [See  John  6:  41-59.]  17 
seeing  that  w^e,  who  are  many,  are  one  bread,  one 
body :  for  we  all  partake  of  the  one  bread.  [Paul  here 
points  out  the  nature  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  showing  how  it 
unites  us  with  each  other  and  with  the  Lord.  We  all  partake 
of  the  loaf  and  thereby  become  qualitatively,  as  it  were,  a  part 
of  it,  as  it  of  us;  and  even  thus  we  all  become  members  of 
Christ's  one  body  which  it  represents  and  Christ  becomes  part 
of  us.  Such  is  the  unity  of  the  church:  Paul  had  no  concep- 
tion of  a  divided  church.  Though  there  may  be  more  than  one 
loaf  at  the  communion,  yet  the  bread  is  one  in  substance,  and 
is  one  emblem.]  18  Behold  Israel  after  the  flesh:  have 
not  they  that  eat  the  sacrifices  communion  with  the 
altar?  [In  Paul's  eyes  the  church  was  the  true  Israel,  and  the 
Jews  were  Israel  after  the  flesh.  Part  of  the  Jewish  sacrifice 
was  eaten  by  the  worshiper  as  an  act  of  worship  (Deut.  12:  18), 
and  part  was  consumed  upon  the  altar  as  a  sacrifice  to  God; 
that  is,  as  God's  part.  Thus  the  worshiper  had  communion 
with  the  altar,  or,  more  accurately  speaking,  with  God,  who 
owned  the  altar;  a  portion  of  the  meat  of  sacrifice  entering  his 
body  and  becoming  part  of  him,  and  a  portion  of  it  typically 
entering  and  becoming  part  of  the  Lord.  Having  thus  given 
two  instances  showing  that  sacrificial  feasts  estabHsh  a  rela- 
tionship between  the  worshiper  and  the  object  worshiped,  Paul 
proceeds  to  make  his  application  of  them  to  idol  feasts,  and 
begins  by  anticipating  an  objection  which  the  quick-witted 
Corinthians,  seeing  the  drift  of  his  argument,  would  begin  at 
once  to  urge.]  19  What  say  I  then?  that  a  thing  sacri- 
ficed to  idols  is  anything,  or  that  an  idol  is  anything? 
["But,  Paul,"  say  the  Corinthians,  "your  reasoning  can  not 
apply  to  feasts  or  sacrificial  meat  offered  to  idols ;  for  you  have 
already  admitted  (qh.  8:  4)  that  an  idol  is  a  nonentity.  By 
sacrifice  a  man  may  establish  a  communal  relationship  with 
God,  for  God  is ;  but  he  can  estabHsh  no  such  relationship  with 
an  idol,  for  an  idol  is  not— it  has  no  existence."     The  under- 


CONCERNING  IDOLATROUS  MEAT         105 

standing  of  the  Corinthians  with  regard  to  idols  was  true,  but 
it  was  not  the  whole  truth,  for  there  was  some  reality  back  of 
the  idol.]  20  But  /  say^  that  the  things  which  the  Gen- 
tiles sacrifice,  they  sacrifice  to  demons,  and  not  to 
God :  and  I  would  not  that  ye  should  have  communion 
with  demons.  [It  was  true  that  the  idol  was  nothing,  but  it 
represented  a  reahty,  and  it  was  well  established  both  among 
Jews  and  Greeks  that  that  reality  was  a  demon.  Among  Jews 
and  Christians  this  word  represented  an  evil  spirit  (Deut.  32:  17; 
Lev.  17:7;  2Chron.  11:5;  Ps.  96:  5  ;  106:39;  Matt.  25:  41 ; 
Rev.  9:  20;  Eph.  6:  12).  Among  the  Greeks  the  word  had  a 
broader  significance.  With  them  it  meant  a  demi-god  or 
minor  deity — a  being  between  God  and  men.  One  part  of 
them  were  spirits  of  dead  men,  mainly  dead  kings  or  heroes 
who  had  been  deified  and  honored  with  idols  and  worship. 
Another  part  were  regarded  as  having  a  supernatural  origin, 
and  were  like  angels.  These  might  be  good  or  evil.  Thus 
Socrates  regarded  himself  as  under  the  care  and  influence  of  a 
good  demon.  Thus  at  the  core  idolatry  was  demon-worship, 
and  if  the  Christian  who  ate  the  Lord's  Supper  communed  with 
the  Lord,  and  the  Jew  who  ate  the  sacrifice  of  the  altar 
communed  with  the  God  of  the  altar;  so  the  man,  be  he  pagan 
or  Christian,  who  partook  of  the  idol  sacrifice,  communed  with 
the  demon  who  appropriated  the  worship  offered  to  the  idol.] 
21  Ye  cannot  drink  the  cup  of  the  Lord,  and  the  cup  of 
demons :  ye  cannot  partake  of  the  table  of  the  Lord, 
and  of  the  table  of  demons.  [At  the  sacrificial  feasts 
of  the  pagans  the  provisions  and  wine  were  both  blessed  in  the 
name  of  the  idol,  and  thereby  consecrated  to  him.  Part  of  the 
festal  cup  was  poured  out  as  a  libation  to  the  idol,  after  which 
the  guests  drank  of  the  cup  and  thus  had.  fellowship  with  the 
idol.  See  ^neid  8:  273.  Outwardly,  Christians  might  par- 
take of  both  feasts,  but  it  was  a  moral  impossibility  for  them  to 
do  so  inwardly  and  spiritually.  We  can  not  be  wicked  and 
holy  any  more  than  we  can  be  black  and  white  at  the  same 
time.  We  may  also  note  that  there  were  tables  in  the  temples 
of  the  idols  on  which  feasts  were  prepared.]     22  Or  do  w^e 


106    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

provoke  the  Lord  to  jealousy?   are  we  stronger  than 

he?  [God  does  not  permit  a  division  of  his  worship  (Matt. 
6:  24).  Any  attempt  to  do  this  is  said  to  arouse  his  jealousy, 
that  passion  which  arises  from  wounded  love  (Isa.  54:  5  ;  Eph. 
5:  23-32 ;  Ex.  20:  5).  Paul  doubtless  has  in  mind  the  passage 
at  Lev.  32:  17-26,  which  shows  the  necessity  of  obedience  on 
the  part  of  those  not  able  to  resist.]  23  All  things  are  law- 
ful ;  but  not  all  things  are  expedient.  All  things  are 
lawful ;  but  not  all  things  edify.  [See  comment  on  ch. 
6:  12.]  24  Let  no  man  seek  his  own,  but  each  his 
neighbor's  good.  [As  to  eating  idolatrous  meat  and  all 
similar  questions  of  liberty,  be  more  careful  to  think  of  the  in- 
terests of  others  than  to  assert  your  own  rights.]  25  What- 
soever is  sold  in  the  shambles,  eat,  as-king  no  question 
for  conscience'  sake ;  26  for  the  earth  is  the  Lord's, 
and  the  fulness  thereof.  [Ps.  20:  i ;  50:  12.  Meat  sold  in 
the  public  market  might  be  bought  and  used  by  the  Christian 
without  stopping  to  make  investigation  or  to  consult  his  con- 
science, for  when  thus  sold  it  was  wholly  disassociated  from  the 
rites  of  idolatrous  sacrifice,  and  one  so  using  it  could  not  be 
suspected  of  doing  so  as  an  act  of  worship.  Moreover,  all 
meat  was  pure,  since  it  had  come  from  the  Lord.  Being  part 
of  the  furniture  of  the  earth,  it  was  to  be  eaten  without 
scruple — Rom.  14:14,  20;  i  Tim.  4:  4,  5  ;  Acts  10:15.]  27 
If  one  of  them  that  believe  not  biddeth  you  to  a  feast, 
and  ye  are  disposed  to  go ;  whatsoever  is  set  before 
you,  eat,  asking  no  question  for  conscience'  sake.  28 
But  if  any  man  say  unto  you.  This  hath  been  offered 
in  sacrifice,  eat  not,  for  his  sake  that  showed  it,  and 
for  conscience'  sake :  29  conscience,  I  say,  not  thine 
own,  but  the  other's  ;  for  why  is  my  liberty  judged  by 
another  conscience  ?  [Christianity  did  not  forbid  a  man  to 
retain  his  friendships  among  pagans,  nor  did  it  prohibit  fellow- 
ship with  them.  If  such  a  friend  should  ask  a  Christian  to  a 
meal  in  a  private  house  and  not  to  a  sacrificial  feast  in  an  idol 
temple,  the  Christian  need  not  trouble  himself  to  ask  whether 
the  meat  that  was  served  was  part  of  an  idol  sacrifice,  for  such 


CONCERNING  IDOLATROUS  MEAT         107 

a  dining  was  in  no  sense  an  act  of  worship.  If,  however, 
some  scrupulous  Christian  or  half-converted  person  should 
point  out  that  the  meat  was  idolatrous,  then  it  was  not  to  be 
eaten,  for  the  sake  of  the  man  who  regarded  it  as  idolatrous. 
But  so  far  as  the  real  question  of  liberty  was  concerned,  each 
man's  liberty  is  finally  judged  by  his  own  conscience  and  not 
by  that  of  another.  Liberty  may  be  waived  for  the  sake  of 
another's  conscience,  but  it  is  never  thus  surrendered.  Paul's 
teaching,  therefore,  is  that  food  is  not  tainted,  and  so  it  is 
always  right  to  eat  it  as  food,  but  all  the  rites  of  idolatry  are 
tainted,  and  the  Christian  must  do  nothing  which  gives  coun- 
tenance to  those  rites,  and  for  the  sake  of  others  he  must  ab- 
stain from  seeming  to  countenance  them  even  when  his  own 
conscience  acquits  him  of  so  doing.]  30  If  I  partake  with 
thankfulness,  "why  am  I  evil  spoken  of  for  that  for 
which  I  give  thanks  ?  [The  conscience  of  another  man 
does  not  make  it  wrong  for  me  to  do  that  which  I  am  not  only 
permitted  to  do  by  my  own  conscience,  but  which  I  even  do  in 
a  spirit  of  prayerful  thankfulness.  Nor  does  my  doing  such  a 
thing  give  him,  or  any  other,  a  right  to  speak  evil  of  me,  for  I 
do  not  have  to  change  my  conscience  to  suit  the  judgment  of 
others.  In  theory  Paul  sided  with  the  strong,  but  in  sympathy 
he  was  one  with  the  weak;  yet  he  did  not  permit  them  to 
exercise  a  vexatious  tyranny  over  him  because  of  their  scruples.] 
31  Whether  therefore  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  -whatsoever 
ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.  [All  eating  should  be 
with  thanksgiving  to  God  and  should  not  dishonor  God  by 
injuring  the  consciences  of  weak  men — comp.  Col.  3:17;  I 
Pet.  4:  II.]  32  Give  no  occasion  of  stumbling  [Mark 
9:  42],  either  to  Jews,  or  to  Greeks,  or  to  the  church  of 
God :  33  even  as  I  also  please  all  men  in  all  things 
[indifferent  or  permissible],  not  seeking  mine  own  profit, 
but  the  profit  of  the  many,  that  they  may  be  saved. 
XI.  1  Be  ye  imitators  of  me,  even  as  I  also  am  of 
Christ.  [In  all  matters  that  were  indifferent  Paul  pleased 
others,  rather  than  himself  (ch.  9:  19,  22;  Rom.  15:2).  He 
did  not  needlessly  trample  upon  the  prejudices  of  any,  whether 


108    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 

in  the  church  or  out,  and  he  counseled  the  Corinthians  to 
follow  his  example  in  this,  as  he  himself  followed  the  example  of 
Christ  in  thus  showing  mercy  and  consideration— Rom:  15:1-3.] 


VII. 

SIXTH   RESPONSE.      CONCERNING   HEAD 
COSTUME. 

11:  2-16. 

[Paul  has  been  discussing  the  disorderly  conduct  of  in- 
dividual Christians.  He  now  proceeds  to  discuss  more  gen- 
eral disorders;  /.  e.,  those  which  took  place  in  the  meetings 
of  the  congregation,  and  in  which  the  whole  church  par- 
ticipated. We  may  conceive  him  as  answering  the  question, 
"Ought  men  to  have  their  heads  covered,  or  may  women 
have  their  heads  uncovered  when  they  are  prophesying  in 
public?''^  2  Now  I  praise  you  that  ye  remember  me 
in  all  things,  and  hold  fast  the  traditions,  even  as  I 
delivered  them  to  you.  [By  "traditions"  Paul  means  the 
precepts,  ordinances  and  doctrines  which  he  had  taught  them 
orally.  The  traditions  of  God,  given  through  inspired  men, 
are  to  be  accepted  without  addition  or  alteration  (ch.  15:  3 ;  2 
Thess.  2:  15  ;  Rev.  22:  18),  but  the  traditions  of  men  should  be 
weighed  carefully,  and  summarily  rejected  if  they  conflict  with 
the  teaching  of  God  (Matt.  15:  1-9).  Since  Paul  has  already 
censured  the  Corinthians  for  departing  from  his  teaching,  and 
since,  in  the  next  breath,  he  points  out  further  departures  on 
their  part  from  his  teaching,  it  is  evident  that  what  he  says  here 
is  a  quotation  taken  from  a  part  of  their  letter  where  they  were 
expressing  their  loyalty  to  him.  Having  thus  quoted  their 
words  in  which  they  committed  themselves  to  his  teaching,  he 
points  out  what  the  teaching  really  was,  that  they  may  make 
good  their  boast  by  obeying  it.]  3  But  I  would  have  you 
know,  that  the  head  of  every  man  is  Christ ;  and  the 
head  of  the  woman  is  the  man  ;  and  the  head  of  Christ 


CONCERNING  HEAD   COSTUME  109 

is  God.  [Paul  settles  the  humblest  difficulties  by  appealing 
to  the  loftiest  principles:  thus  he  makes  the  headship  of  Christ 
over  man  the  basis,  or  principle,  on  which  he  decides  that  the 
man  has  headship  over  the  woman,  and  as  we  shall  see  further 
on,  he  makes  the  headship  of  the  man  over  the  woman  the 
principle  by  which  he  determines  the  question  as  to  whether 
men  should  worship  with  uncovered,  and  women  with  covered 
heads ;  for  the  uncovered  head  was  the  symbol  of  royalty  and 
dominion,  and  the  covered  head  of  subjection  and  submission. 
The  order  in  which  he  states  the  several  headships  is  peculiar. 
We  would  expect  him  to  begin  with  God  and  descend  by  the 
regular  steps,  thus :  God,  Christ,  man,  woman.  But  the  order 
is  thus:  Christ,  man;  man,  woman;  God,  Christ.  Subtle  dis- 
tinctions are  to  be  made  with  caution,  but  it  is  not  improbable 
that  Paul's  order  in  this  case  is  determined  by  the  delicate 
nature  of  the  subject  which  he  handles.  Dominion  is  fruitful 
of  tyranny,  and  so  it  is  well,  before  giving  man  dominion,  to 
remind  him  that  he  also  is  a  servant  (Matt.  i8:  21-35  i  5^  ?)• 
Again,  the  arrangement  makes  the  headship  of  the  man  over 
the  woman  parallel  to  the  headship  of  God  over  Christ,  and 
suggests  that  there  should  be  between  husband  and  wife  a 
unity  of  will  and  purpose  similar  to  that  which  exists  between 
the  Father  and  the  Son.  The  unquestioned,  immediate  and 
absolute  submission  and  concurrence  of  the  Son  leave  no 
room  for  the  exercise  of  authority  on  the  part  of  the  Father, 
and  the  infinite  and  unsearchable  wisdom,  love,  benevolence 
and  good-will  on  the  part  of  the  Father  take  from  the  Son 
every  occasion  of  unwillingness  or  even  hesitation.  All 
Christian  husbands  and  wives  should  mutually  remember  this 
parallel.  Jesus  the  Incarnate,  the  Son  of  man  and  the  Son  of 
God,  is  subject  to  the  Father,  by  reason  of  his  humanity  and 
his  mediatorial  kingdom  (ch.  3:23;  15:24-28;  John  14:28). 
As  to  the  subjection  of  the  Logos  or  the  eternal  Word  to  the 
Father  we  are  not  informed — comp.  Phil.  2:  6.]  4  Every 
man  praying  or  prophesying  [speaking  by  divine  inspira- 
tion], having  his  head  covered,  dishonoreth  his  head. 
5  But  every  woman  praying  or  prophesying  with  her 


110    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 

head  unveiled  dishonoreth  her  head  [Corinth  was  made 
up  of  Greeks,  Romans  and  Jews,  and  all  these  three  elements 
of  her  population  were  found  in  the  church  to  which  Paul 
wrote.  The  Jew  and  the  Roman  worshiped  with  covered,  and 
the  Greek  with  uncovered,  head.  Naturally  a  dispute  would 
arise  as  to  which  custom  was  right.  Moreover,  as  the  women 
were  beyond  all  doubt  acquainted  with  the  principle  that  there 
is  neither  male  nor  female  in  the  spiritual  realm  (Gal.  3:  28), 
they  seem  to  have  added  to  the  confusion  by  taking  sides  in 
the  controversy,  so  that  some  of  them  asserted  the  right  to 
worship  with  uncovered  heads  after  the  fashion  of  the  Greeks. 
Now,  in  the  East  in  Paul's  day,  all  women  went  into  public 
assemblies  with  their  heads  veiled,  and  this  peplum,  or  veil, 
was  regarded  as  a  badge  of  subordination,  a  sign  that  the 
woman  was  under  the  power  of  the  man.  Thus  Chardin,  the 
traveler,  says  that  the  women  of  Persia  wear  a  veil  in  sign 
that  they  are  "under  subjection,"  a  fact  which  Paul  also 
asserts  in  this  chapter.  Now,  the  symbolic  significance  of  a 
woman's  head-dress  became  the  determining  factor  in  this  dis- 
pute. For  a  man  to  worship  with  a  covered  head  was  an  act 
of  effeminacy,  a  disgrace  to  his  head,  and  for  a  woman  to 
worship  with  uncovered  head  was  likewise  disgraceful,  for  it 
would  at  once  be  looked  upon  as  a  bold  assertion  of  unwarranted 
independence,  a  sign  that  she  had  laid  aside  her  modesty  and 
removed  from  her  sphere.  From  this  passage  it  is  plain  that  it 
was  not  intended  that  Christianity  should  needlessly  vary  from 
the  national  customs  of  the  day.  For  Christians  to  introduce 
needless  innovations  would  be  to  add  to  the  misconceptions 
which  already  subjected  them  to  persecution.  One  who  follows 
Christ  will  find  himself  conspicuously  different  from  the  world, 
without  practicing  any  tricks  of  singularity]  ;  for  it  is  one 
and  the  same  thing  as  if  she  were  shaven.  6  For  if  a 
woman  is  not  veiled,  let  her  also  be  shorn  :  but  if  it  is 
a  shame  to  a  woman  to  be  shorn  [with  shears]  or  shaven 
[with  a  razor],  let  her  be  veiled.  [Paul  does  not  co7?i?nand 
that  unveiled  women  be  shorn,  but  he  demands  it  as  a  logical 
consistency,   as    a   scornful   reductio   ad  absurdu77i.      For  a 


CONCERNING  HEAD    COSTUME  111 

woman  to  wantonly  lay  aside  her  veil  was  an  open  repudiation 
of  the  authority  of  her  husband,  and  such  a  repudiation  lowered 
her  to  the  level  of  the  courtesan,  who,  according  to  Eisner, 
showed  her  shamelessness  by  her  shorn  head,  and  likewise  to 
the  level  of  the  adulteress,  whose  penalty,  according  to  Wetstein 
and  Meyer,  was  to  have  her  head  shaved.  Paul,  therefore,  de- 
mands that  those  who  voluntarily  seek  a  low  level,  consent  to 
wear  all  the  signs  and  badges  of  that  level  that  they  may  be 
shamed  into  rising  above  it.  Having  thus  deduced  a  law  from 
human  custom,  Paul  now  shows  that  the  same  law  rests  upon 
divine  and  creative  relationships.]  7  For  a  man  indeed 
ought  not  to  have  his  head  veiled,  forasmuch  as  he  is 
the  image  and  glory  of  God  [Man  has  no  created  superior 
(Gen.  1:27;  Ps.  8:6),  and,  in  addition  to  the  glory  which  is 
his  by  reason  of  the  nature  of  his  creation,  his  estate  has  been 
further  dignified  and  glorified  by  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of 
God  (Heb.  1:2,  3),  so  that,  because  of  his  fellowship  with 
Christ,  he  may  stand  unveiled  in  the  presence  of  the  Father. 
Therefore,  by  covering  his  head  while  at  worship,  man  sym- 
bolically forfeits  his  right  to  share  in  the  glory  of  Christ,  and 
thus  dishonors  himself.  We  are  no  longer  slaves,  but  sons 
(Gal.  4:  7).  "We  Christians,"  says  Tertullian,  "pray  with 
outspread  hands,  as  harmless  ;  with  uncovered  heads,  as  un- 
ashamed;  without  a  pro77tpter,  as  from  the  heart"]  :  but  the 
woman  is  the  glory  of  the  man.  8  For  the  man  is  not 
of  the  woman ;  but  the  woman  of  the  man :  9  for 
neither  was  the  man  created  for  the  woman  ;  but  the 
woman  for  the  man  [Gen.  2:  18,  21,  22]  :  10  for  this 
cause  ought  the  w^oman  to  have  a  sign  of  authority  on 
her  head,  because  of  the  angels.  [The  argument  here 
runs  thus :  The  rule  which  I  have  given  you  rests  upon  sym- 
bolism— the  symbol  of  the  wife's  subjection.  But  this  symbol- 
ism is  correct,  for,  as  man  proceeded  from  God,  being  fashioned 
as  a  minor  representative  of  God,  so  also  woman  proceeded 
from  man  as  a  minor  representative  of  man,  and  her  minor  state 
is  apparent  from  the  fact  that  she  was  created  for  the  man,  and 
not  the  man  for  her.     Hence,  women  ought  not  to  do  away 


112    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

with  the  veil  while  in  places  of  worship,  because  of  the  symbol- 
ism ;  and  they  can  not  do  away  with  the  subordination  which 
it  symbolizes,  because  it  rests  on  the  unalterable  facts  of  crea- 
tion. To  abandon  this  justifiable  and  well-established  symbol 
of  subordination  would  be  a  shock  to  the  submissive  and 
obedient  spirit  of  the  ministering  angels  (Isa.  6:  2)  who,  though 
unseen,  are  always  present  with  you  in  your  places  of  worship" 
(Matt.  18:10-31;  Ps.  138:1;  I  Tim.  5:  21 ;  ch.  4:9;  Eccles. 
5:  6).  Here  we  find  Paul  not  only  vindicating  the  religious 
truths  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  authenticating  its  historical 
facts  as  well.]  11  Nevertheless,  neither  is  the  woman 
without  the  man,  nor  the  man  without  the  woman,  in 
the  Lord.  ['Tn  the  Lord"  means  by  divine  appointment.] 
12  For  as  the  woman  is  of  the  man,  so  is  the  man  also 
by  the  woman;  but  all  things  are  of  God.  [Lest  any 
man  should  be  inflated  with  pride  by  the  statement  in  verse  7, 
fancying  that  there  was  some  degree  oi  proportion  between  the 
exaltation  of  God  over  man  and  of  man  over  woman,  Paul  adds 
these  words  to  show  that  men  and  women  are  mutually  de- 
pendent, and  hence  nearly  equals,  but  that  God,  as  Creator,  is 
exalted  over  all.  The  idea  of  proportion,  therefore,  is  utterly 
misleading.  To  the  two  reasons  already  given  for  the  covering 
of  a  woman's  and  the  uncovering  of  a  man's  head,  Paul  adds 
two  more.]  13  Judge  ye  in  yourselves  [he  appealed  to 
their  own  sense  of  propriety,  as  governed  by  the  light  of 
nature]  :  is  it  seemly  that  a  woman  pray  unto  God  un- 
veiled ?  14  Doth  not  even  nature  itself  teach  you,  that, 
if  a  man  have  long  hair,  it  is  a  dishonor  to  him  ?  15 
But  if  a  w^oman  have  long  hair,  it  is  a  glory  to  her :  for 
her  hair  is  given  her  for  a  covering.  [Instinct  should 
teach  us  that  the  head  of  a  woman  is  more  properly  covered 
than  that  of  a  man,  for  nature  grants  it  a  greater  abundance  of 
hair.  In  Paul's  time  the  hair  of  a  man,  unless  he  was  under 
some  vow,  such  as  that  of  the  Nazarite,  was  uniformly  cut 
short.  Long  hair  in  a  man  betokened  base  and  lewd  efifemi- 
nacy,  and  we  find  those  who  wore  it  ridiculed  by  Juvenal. 
Since  nature  gives  a  woman  more  covering  than  man,  her  will 


CONCERNING   HEAD    COSTUME  113 

should  accord  with  nature,  and  vice  versa.  MascuHne  women 
and  effeminate  men  are  alike  objectionable.  Let  each  sex 
keep  its  place.  And  in  point  of  attire  it  is  still  disgraceful  for 
men  and  women  to  appear  in  public  in  each  other's  garments.] 
16  But  if  any  man  seemeth  to  be  [a  mild  way  of  saying, 
"if  any  man  is"]  contentious,  w^e  have  no  such  custom, 
neither  the  churches  of  God.  [Knowing  the  argumenta- 
tive spirit  of  the  Greeks,  and  being  conscious  that  it  was  likely 
that  some  would  even  yet  want  to  dispute  the  matter,  despite 
his  three  reasons  to  the  contrary,  Paul  takes  it  entirely  out  of 
the  realm  of  discussion  into  that  of  precedent.  The  settled 
and  established  practice  of  the  church  had  from  the  beginning 
followed  the  course  outlined  by  Paul,  which  showed  that  other 
apostles  beside  himself  had  either  established  it  by  rule,  or 
endorsed  it  in  practice.  In  this  appeal  for  uniformity  Paul 
makes  it  clear  that  all  churches  should  strive  to  make  their 
practices  uniform,  not  variant.  Paul  is  here  discussing  how 
men  and  women  should  be  attired  when  they  take  a  leading 
part  in  public  worship.  He  will  speak  later  as  to  whether  or 
not  women  should  take  any  such  part  at  all  in  public  worship 
(ch.  14:  34,  35;  I  Tim.  2:  12).  We  to-day  as  males  worship 
with  uncovered  heads  in  consequence  of  Paul's  iiistructioii; 
but  not  for  his  reasons.  It  is  now  an  expression  of  reverence, 
which  the  Jew  then  expressed  by  taking  off  his  sandals. 
''Holland,"  says  Stanley,  "is  the  only  exception.  In  Dutch 
congregations,  men  uncover  their  heads  during  the  psalmody 
only."  In  Western  countries  a  woman's  hat  has  never  had 
any  symbolism  whatever.  We  see  nothing  in  Paul's  argument 
which  requires  us  to  make  it  symbolic.  The  problem  in  West- 
ern assemblies  is  how  best  to  persuade  women  to  take  their 
hats  off,  not  how  to  prevail  upon  them  to  keep  them  on.  The 
principle,  however,  still  holds  good  that  the  woman  is  subor- 
dinate to  the  man,  and  should  not  make  any  unseemly,  immod- 
est, vaunting  display  of  an  independence  which  she  does  not 
possess. 


114   FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 


VIII. 

SEVENTH  RESPONSE.  AS  TO  THE  LORD'S 
SUPPER. 

ii:  17-34. 

17  But  in  giving  you  this  charge,  I  praise  you  not, 
that  ye  come  together  not  for  the  better  but  for  the 
worse.  [Their  church  services,  which  were  intended  for 
their  development,  had  become  so  corrupted  that  they  tended 
to  retard  and  to  dwarf  their  natural  growth.  Farrar  makes  the 
words  "this  charge"  refer  back  to  verse  2;  but  it  is  more 
natural  and  easy  to  refer  them  to  what  he  is  about  to  say.]  18 
For  first  of  all  [Paul  was  not  careful  as  to  his  divisions,  and 
so  his  ''secondly"  is  not  clearly  stated.  Olshausen,  Ewald, 
Winer  and  others  think  it  begins  at  verse  20,  and  thus  the 
apostle  first  censures  the  factions,  and  next  the  evils  which  re- 
sulted from  the  factions.  But  as  Paul  includes  both  these  in 
one  rebuke,  it  is  best  with  Meyer,  Fausset  and  others  to  find 
the  ''secondly"  beginning  at  ch.  12:  i ;  so  that  the  first  rebuke 
is  directed  at  their  misbehavior  at  the  love-feast  and  the 
Lord's  Supper,  and  the  second  at  their  misapplication  of  the 
gifts  of  the  Spirit] ,  when  ye  come  together  in  the  church 
[/.  e.,  in  the  congregation,  for  as  yet  they  doubtless  had  no 
buildiiig  (Acts  18:  7),  and  in  this  latter  sense  the  word  is  no- 
where used  in  the  New  Testament],  I  hear  that  divisions 
exist  among  you;  and  I  partly  believe  it.  [Evidently 
the  divisions  rebuked  in  chapter  i  manifested  themselves  in  the 
meetings  of  the  congregation,  and  the  Pauline,  Petrine  and 
other  parties  gathered  in  separate  groups.  Paul  was  distressed 
to  hear  this,  and  Alford  interprets  him  thus:  "I  am  unwilling 
to  believe  all  I  hear,  but  some  I  can  not  help  believing."]  19 
For  there  must  be  [Luke  17:  i ;  Matt.  18:  7;  10:  11]  also 
factions  among  you,  that  they  that  are  approved  may 
be  made  manifest  among  you.  [A  carnal  spirit  tends  to 
division  (ch.  3: 1-4;   i  John  2:  18,  19).    The  divisive  spirit  in  the 


AS    TO    THE  LORD'S  SUPPER  115 

perverse  and  carnal,  manifests,  by  contrast,  the  loving,  united 
spirit  of  the  obedient  and  spiritual,  which  is  approved. 
''Approved"  is  the  cognate  opposite  of  "rejected"  found  at  ch. 
9:27.  The  word  "division"  used  in  the  verse  above  was  a 
milder  term  than  "factions"  found  here.  The  former  repre- 
sented parties  separated  hy  present  or  at  least  very  recent  dis- 
sensions, while  the  latter  described  matured  separations  and 
looked  toward  permanent  organizations.  If  the  former  might 
be  regarded  as  a  war  of  secession,  the  latter  would  describe 
that  condition  when  the  war  was  practically  ended,  and  the 
two  parties  were  almost  ready  to  establish  themselves  as 
separate,  independent  and  rival  governments.  But  factions 
did  not  thus  mature  in  Paul's  time,  nor  does  Clement's  epistle 
written  forty  years  later  indicate  that  they  had  matured  in  his 
time.  No  doubt,  this  epistle  of  Paul's  had  much  to  do  in 
checking  their  development.]  20  When  therefore  ye  as- 
semble yourselves  together,  it  is  not  possible  to  eat 
the  Lord's  supper  [The  Lord's  Supper  is  a  spiritual  feast. 
It  is  a  feast  of  love,  union  and  communion  in  and  with  Christ, 
and  so  can  not  be  eaten  by  those  who  have  already  glutted 
themselves  with  hatred,  factiousness  and  partyism]  :  21  for  in 
your  eating  each  one  taketh  before  other  his  own 
supper ;  and  one  is  hungry,  and  another  is  drunken. 
[This  verse  is  an  indictment  with  three  counts.  There  could  be 
no  communion  supper  when:  i.  The  parties  did  not  eat  at  the 
same  time,  but  some  before  and  some  after;  2.  when  each  ate 
his  own  meal,  instead  of  sharing  in  "the  one  bread"  (ch. 
10:  17);  3.  when  some  ate  to  the  full  and  others  ate  nothing  at 
all,  because  there  was  nothing  left.  It  is  likely  that  "drunken" 
indicates  a  state  of  partial  intoxication.'  Grotius  gives  "drunk- 
en" the  milder,  and  Meyer  the  stronger,  sense.  But  the  con- 
text suggests  that  one  had  more  than  was  good  for  him,  and 
the  other  less,  and  there  is  a  subtle  innuendo  in  the  crossing  of 
the  terms,  so  that  overdrinking  stands  in  contrast  to  U7ider- 
eating,  for  overdrinking  is  greater  debauchery  than  over- 
eating.] 22  What,  have  ye  not  houses  to  eat  and  to 
drink  in?    or  despise  ye  the  church  of  God,  and  put 


116    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO   THE   CORINTHIANS 

them  to  shame  that  have  not?  What  shall  I  say  to 
you?  shall  I  praise  you?  In  this  I  praise  you  not. 
[Litotes  for  "I  condemn  you."  The  context  here  makes  it 
evident  that  the  abuses  of  the  Lord's  Supper  grew  out  of  the 
Agapse,  or  love-feast,  which  was  associated  with  it.  As  the 
feast  of  the  Passover  immediately  preceded  the  Lord's  Supper, 
the  early  church  thought  it  expedient  to  have  a  preliminary 
feast  as  a  substitute  for  the  Passover,  thinking  that  the  Lord's 
Supper  would  thus  have  its  proper  setting.  They  called  this 
preliminary  meal  a  "love-feast"  (Greek,  Agapai—]\xdt  12). 
This  Agapse  was  a  club-feast;  i.  e.,  one  to  which  each  was  sup- 
posed to  contribute  his  share.  But  the  factious  spirit  in  Corinth 
caused  the  church  to  eat  in  different  parties  and  at  different 
times ;  and  may  have,  to  a  large  degree,  caused  each  to  self- 
ishly eat  what  he  himself  had  brought.  Hence,  the  apostle 
declares  that  a  feast  so  devoid  of  all  spirit  of  communion  might 
just  as  well  be  eaten  at  home.  They  were  mere  carnal  feasts 
of  appetite  and  not  spiritual  feasts  of  love.  Paul  does  not, 
however,  mention  the  Agapae,  for,  being  a  human  and  not  a 
sacred  feast,  it  could  not  be  profaned.  But  the  things  which 
were  a  disgrace  to  it  became  a  profanation  and  a  sin  when  they 
passed  from  it  into  the  Lord's  Supper.  Paul  shows  his  sense 
of  astonishment  at  the  unseemly  conduct  of  the  Corinthians  by 
a  "lively  succession  of  questions."  His  meaning  may  be  para- 
phrased thus:  "Private  feasts  should  be  eaten  in  your  own 
private  houses,  or  is  it  possible  that  you  do  not  own  any  houses  ? 
Surely  you  do.  Why,  then,  do  you  meet  in  a  public  assembly  to 
eat  your  private  meal?  Is  it  because  you  despise  the  church  of 
God,  and  wish  to  show  your  contempt  for  it  by  exposing  the 
poverty  of  those  who  have  no  houses  (nor  anything  else),  mak- 
ing a  parade  of  your  wealth  before  them,  and  publishing  the 
fact  that  you  do  not  consider  them  fit  to  eat  with  you  ?"  The 
evil  spirit  of  which  Paul  speaks  still  exists ;  but  it  shows  itself 
to-day  by  a  parade  of  dress,  and  not  of  victuals.  From  the 
perverted  feast  of  the  Corinthians  Paul  now  turns  to  show  the 
nature  of  the  true  Lord's  Supper.]  23  For  I  received  of  the 
Lord  [Paul  did  not  receive  his  knowledge  as  to  the  supper 


AS   TO    THE  LORD'S  SUPPER  117 

from  the  apostles  or  other  witnesses  (comp.  Gal.  i:  ii,  12).  To 
be  truly  an  apostle  and  witness  (Acts  1:8),  it  was  fitting  that 
Paul  should  have  his  knowledge  from  the  fountain  source. 
For  a  comparison  of  Paul's  account  with  the  three  others,  and 
comments  upon  verses  23-26,  see  ''Fourfold  Gospel,"  p.  657] 
that  which  also  I  delivered  unto  you,  that  the  Lord 
Jesus  in  the  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed  [the 
solemn  and  affecting  circumstances  under  which  the  supper 
was  instituted,  as  well  as  the  sacred  nature  of  the  ordinance 
itself,  should  have  impressed  upon  the  Corinthians  how  unbe- 
coming it  was  to  celebrate  the  memorial  of  it  in  a  spirit  of 
pride,  revelry  and  disorder]  took  bread ;  24  and  when  he 
had  given  thanks,  he  brake  it,  and  said.  This  is  my 
body,  which  is  for  you  :  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me. 
[The  Greek  word  for  giving  thanks  is  eucharistia,  and  from  it 
many  call  the  Lord's  Supper  the  Eucharist.  But  the  ''Lord's 
supper"  and  the  "Lord's  table"  (ch.  10:  21)  and  the  "commun- 
ion" (ch.  10:  16)  are  three  Bible  terms  for  it.  Many  ancient 
authorities  read:  "This  is  my  body,  which  is  broken  for  you" 
etc.  Some  regard  this  as  a  contradiction  of  John's  assertion  that 
no  bone  of  him  was  broken  (John  19:  36).  But  the  word  differs 
from  that  used  by  John,  which  may  be  properly  translated 
"crushed."  "Broken"  is  involved  in  the  phrase  "he  brake 
it,"  used  here,  and  in  the  three  other  accounts  of  the  supper, 
and  hence  they  err  who  use  the  unbroken  wafer.]  25  In  like 
manner  also  the  cup,  after  supper  [Paul  here  inserts  the 
entering  wedge  of  reform.  The  Lord's  Supper  came  after  iht 
Passover,  and  was  no  part  of  it;  hence  it  was  no  part  of  the 
Agapse  which  was  substituted  for  the  Passover.  As  therefore 
the  Agapae  was  fruitful  of  disorder,  would  it  not  be  well  to 
separate  it  from  the  communion?  By  the  end  of  the  first  cen- 
tury it  was  so  separated,  and  at  last  it  was  formally  prohibited 
by  the  Council  of  Carthage.  See  Poole's  synopsis  on  Matt. 
26:26],  saying,  This  cup  is  the  new  covenant  in  my 
blood:  this  do,  as  often  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance 
of  me.  \_Diatheke  may  be  translated  "testament"  (Heb. 
9:  16),  or  "covenant."  The  latter  is  the  meaning  here,  for 
9 


118    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

wills  or  testaments  were  not  sealed  with  blood,  as  were  cove- 
nants. The  cup  is  the  symbol  of  Christ's  blood,  which  ratified 
the  gospel  covenant.]  26  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this 
bread,  and  drink  the  cup,  ye  proclaim  [inwardly  and  out- 
wardly] the  LfOrd's  death  till  he  come.  [Thus  the  supper 
looks  forward,  as  well  as  backward.  The  constant  observance 
of  this  feast  through  the  centuries  is  one  of  the  strongest  of 
the  external  evidences  of  the  truth  of  gospel  history.  By  a 
chain  of  weekly  links  it  will  connect  the  first  and  second  com- 
ings of  our  Lord  ;  after  which  there  will  be  no  further  need  of 
symbols.]  27  Wherefore  whosoever  shall  eat  the  bread 
or  drink  the  cup  of  the  Lord  in  an  unworthy  manner, 
shall  be  guilty  of  the  body  and  the  blood  of  the  Lord. 
[It  is  possible  to  partake  of  either  emblem  unworthily,  and  so  be 
guilty  as  to  both  (Jas.  2:  10).  Though  we  may  be  unworthy, 
we  may  still  eat \vor\.h\\y,  i.e.,  in  a  prayerful,  reverent,  repentant 
spirit ;  but  if  we  eat  unworthily,  we  profane  not  only  the  sym- 
bols, but  the  Lord  who  is  symbolized — comp.  Heb.  10:  29.]  28 
But  let  a  man  prove  [test]  himself,  and  so  let  him  eat  of 
the  bread,  and  drink  of  the  cup.  [A  Christian  confronting 
the  communion  should  first  test  his  sincerity  (2  Cor.  13:  5),  his 
state  of  heart  (Matt.  5:22-24),  etc.,  to  see  if  he  can  eat  in  a 
submissive  spirit,  and  in  loving  remembrance  of  his  Lord.]  29 
For  he  that  eateth  and  drinketh,  eateth  and  drinketh 
judgment  unto  himself,  if  he  discern  not  the  body. 
[The  Corinthians  were  eating  the  supper  in  a  spirit  of  levity, 
as  though  it  were  common  food;  not  keeping  in  mind  what  it 
memorialized.]  30  For  this  cause  many  among  you  are 
weak  and  sickly,  and  not  a  few  sleep.  ["Not  a  few" 
indicates  a  larger  number  than  the  preceding  *'many."  It 
is  generally  accepted  that  Paul  here  refers  to  physical  weak- 
ness, ill  health  and  death,  and  that  he  asserts  that  these  things 
came  upon  the  Corinthians  as  a  "judgment"  for  their  abuse  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  (comp.  John  5:  14).  But  the  word  "sleep" 
indicates  peaceful  repose,  rather  than  the  violence  of  the  death 
penalty  ;  and  suggests  that  the  Corinthians  were  condemned 
to  be  spiritually  unhealthy  and  sleepy— comp.  Matt.  13:  12-15.] 


AS    TO    THE  LORD'S  SUPPER  119 

31  But  if  we  discerned  ourselves,  we  should  not  be 
judged.  32  But  when  we  are  judged,  we  are  chastened 
of  the  Lord,  that  we  may  not  be  condemned  with  the 
world.  [If  we  examined  and  corrected  ourselves,  we  would 
escape  the  correction  of  God  ;  but,  as  it  is,  his  judgments  are 
visited  upon  us,  so  that  we  may  not  finally  be  condemned  with 
the  world  (Ps.  94:  12;  Heb.  12:  5-12).  Verses  28  and  31  call 
for  self-judgment,  but  there  is  no  Biblical  authority  for  the 
practice  of  those  who  take  it  upon  themselves  to  judge  as  to  the 
fitness  of  other  professing  Christians  to  commune  (comp.  Rom. 
14:4).  Moreover,  these  verses,  in  giving  the  true  rule  of 
practice,  expose  the  departure  of  the  Romish  Church,  which 
calls  for  no  self-examination,  but  makes  confession  and  priestly 
absolution  the  preparation  for  communion.]  33  Wherefore 
[if  you  wish  to  remedy  matters],  my  brethren,  when  ye 
come  together  to  eat,  wait  one  for  another.  34  If  any 
man  is  hungry,  let  him  eat  at  home  ;  that  your  coming 
together  be  not  unto  judgment.  [By  waiting  they  would 
eat  together,  and  eat  of  the  same  symbolic  bread;  by  eating  at 
home,  and  taking  the  edge  olT  their  appetites,  they  would  not 
devour  all,  and  so  exclude  others  from  the  communion.]  And 
the  rest  will  I  set  in  order  whensoever  I  come.  [The 
spiritual  ill  health  of  the  church  had  delayed  his  coming,  but 
when  he  arrived  he  would  adjust  any  lesser  irregularities  which 
might  need  attention.] 

IX. 

EIGHTH    RESPONSE.     AS    TO    SPIRITUAL   GIFTS. 

12:  1-31. 

To  avoid  confusion  in  our  classification  of  the  subjects 
handled,  we  have  called  this  section  a  response,  but  it  is 
such  as  to  information  received,  rather  than  as  to  questions 
asked.  In  the  early  church  the  Spirit  of  God,  fulfilling  the 
predictions  of  prophecy  (Joel  2:  28  ff. ;  Acts  2:  17-21O,  and 
the  promise  of  the  Lord  (Mark  16:  17,  18;   Acts  8:  i),  begin- 


120    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 

ning   on    the    day   of    Pentecost,    endowed   certain   members 
with   miraculous   gifts.      These    were    needful    in    that    day: 
1.  They  aided  the  evangelists  and  missionaries  to  propagate 
the  faith  in  new  fields  with  greater  speed.     2.  They  assured 
weak  converts  that  God  was  indeed  in  that  church  for  which 
they  had  abandoned   their  former  religions.     3.  They  edified 
the  church,  and  gave  it  that  body  of  perfect  revealed  truth 
which  has  been  preserved  and  made  permanent  in  the  New 
Testament.     But  as  different  gifts  were   bestowed  on  differ- 
ent individuals,  some  of  them  became  a  source  of  pride  and 
envy.     Some  who  had  showy  gifts  made  a  boastful  display  of 
them,  and  thus  vaunted  themselves  as  superior  to  those  who 
had  powers  of  a  less  dazzling  nature ;   and  those  who  had  the 
humbler  gifts  envied  the  more  richly  endowed.     To  correct 
all  this,  Paul  wrote  the  three  chapters  which  follow.]     1  Now 
concerning  spiritual  gifts,  brethren,  I  would  not  have 
you  ignorant.     2  Ye  know  that  when  ye  were  Gentiles 
ye  were  led  away  unto  those  dumb  idols,  howsoever  ye 
might  be  led.     3  Wherefore  I  make  known  unto  you, 
that  no  man  speaking  in  the  Spirit  of  God  saith,  Jesus 
is  anathema  [devoted  to  destruction,  hence  accursed]  ;   and 
no  man  can  say,  Jesus  is  Lord,  but  in  the  Holy  Spirit. 
[The  previous  idolatrous  life  of  the  Corinthians  left  them  not 
only  ignorant  as  to  the  ways  of  God's  Spirit,  but  also  tended 
to  mislead  them.     Paul  therefore  begins  their  instruction  with 
the  elementary  principles  which  concern  inspiration  and  rev- 
elation;    thus:    I.  An  idol  reveals  no  truth;    it  is  dumb.     2. 
Idols  are  many,  but  God  is  one.     3.  The  pretended  revelations 
and  oracles  of  idols  or  idol  priests  and  other  impostors,  may  be 
tested  by  what  their  authors  say  of  Jesus,  for  they  will  speak 
evil  of  him.     4.  The  true  prophets  and  revealers  may  also  be 
so  tested.     They  will  assert  the  claims  of  Jesus,  which  no  man 
is  moved  to  do  save  by  the  Holy  Spirit  (i  John  4:  2,  3 ;  2:  22 ; 
5:  i).    Treating  these  four  points  in  their  order,  we  need  to  note 
that:     I.   Dumb  idols  were  often  made  to  speak  by  priests  con- 
cealed in  or  behind  them,  who  made  use  of  speaking-tubes 
which  led  to  the  parted  lips  of  the  idol.     Hence,  converts  from 


AS    TO  SPIRITUAL    GIFTS  121 

paganism  needed  to  be  reminded  that  idols  were  indeed 
dumb,  as  a  safeguard  against  such  fraud.  No  spiritual  truth 
came  from  the  oracles  of  idols.  2.  As  each  realm  of  nature 
had  its  god,  idolaters  were  drawn  about  from  shrine  to  shrine 
and  temple  to  temple,  seeking  one  blessing  from  one  god  to- 
day, and  another  blessing  from  another  god  to-morrow.  Hence, 
saturated  as  they  were  with  polytheism,  diverse  gifts  were  with 
them  instinctively  associated  with  diverse  gods.  But  the  di- 
verse gifts  of  Christianity  were  not  to  be  attributed  to  different 
deities,  or  even  to  different  subordinate  spiritual  beings,  such 
as  angels,  etc.,  for  they  were  all  from  one  God,  as  Paul  affirms 
in  this  chapter,  reasserting  it  ten  times  in  the  next  ten  verses 
by  way  of  emphasis.  3.  Elymas  affords  a  picture  of  one  pre- 
tending to  speak  oracles — a  false  prophet.  4.  The  conflict 
between  Paul  and  Elymas  shows  the  blasphemy  of  the  false 
and  the  confession  of  the  true  prophet  (Acts  13:  6-12).  The 
oracle  of  Delphi  was  near  by,  and  contentions  between  idola- 
try and  Christianity  were,  we  may  be  sure,  matters  of  daily 
occurrence  in  Corinth,  and  the  ideas  of  new  converts  would  be 
easily  confused.  The  third  verse  shows  that  the  test  of  a 
teacher  is  not  his  apostolic  succession,  but  the  soundness  of  his 
doctrine — comp.  Gal.  1:8.]  4  Now  there  are  diversities 
of  gifts,  but  the  same  Spirit.  5  And  there  are  diver- 
sities of  ministrations,  and  the  same  Lord.  6  And 
there  are  diversities  of  workings,  but  the  same  God, 
who  worketh  all  things  in  all.  [Though  the  gifts  were 
the  immediate  impartation  of  the  Spirit,  yet  it  was  a  mistake 
to  think  that  the  Spirit  acted  as  an  independent  deity  in  this 
giving.  Hence  Paul  begins  by  showing  that  all  the  Godhead 
participated  in  the  bestowal,  and  that  each  sustained  his  own 
relation  to  these  miraculous  manifestations.  In  relation  to  the 
Spirit,  they  were,  as  we  have  seen,  gifts;  in  relation  to  Jesus, 
they  were  means  whereby  he  ministered  to  the  church  (Eph. 
4:  II,  12;  Rom.  12:6,  7;  I  Pet.  4:  10,  11),  and  to  the  world 
through  the  church  (Mark  16:  20);  in  relation  to  the  Father, 
they  were  workings,  or  manifestations  of  power,  whereby  he 
sanctioned   the  church   and  kingdom  of  Jesus  as  proceeding 


122    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

from  himself,  approved  by  him,  and  part  of  his  universal  field 
of  operation— John  8:28,  29;  14:10,  11.]  7  But  to  each 
one  is  given  the  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  to  profit 
withal.  [Each  of  the  gifted  ones  had  some  power  which 
manifested  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  with  him,  and  this  power 
was  not  given  to  him  for  his  own  profit,  but  for  the  good  of  the 
church  and  of  the  world.]  8  For  to  one  is  given  through  the 
Spirit  the  word  of  wisdom ;  and  to  another  the  word  of 
knowledge,  according  to  the  same  Spirit :  9  to  another 
faith,  in  the  same  Spirit ;  and  to  another  gifts  of  heal- 
ings, in  the  one  Spirit ;  10  and  to  another  workings  of 
miracles  ;  and  to  another  prophecy ;  and  to  another  dis- 
cernings  of  spirits :  to  another  divers  kinds  of  tongues  ; 
and  to  another  the  interpretation  of  tongues  :  1 1  but  all 
these  worketh  the  one  and  the  same  Spirit,  dividing  to 
each  one  severally  even  as  he  w^ill.  [Paul  here  sets  forth 
fully  the  diversity  of  the  gifts,  but  checks  any  tendency  to  boast- 
ful comparison  by  showing  that  the  gifts  emanate  from  a  common 
source,  and  are  operated  by  a  common  will,  and  are  bestowed 
according  to  the  pleasure  of  the  Spirit,  and  not  because  of  any 
inferiority  or  superiority  on  the  part  of  the  recipients.  The 
nine  gifts  spoken  of  may  be  described  as  follows:  i.  The 
"word  of  wisdom"  was  the  ability  to  reveal  divine  truth  which 
was  possessed  by  the  apostles  and  partially  by  prophets.  2.  The 
"word  of  knowledge"  was  the  ability  to  teach  the  truth  thus 
revealed.  Paul  emphasizes  that  the  second  gift  was  as  much  a 
work  of  the  Spirit  as  the  first.  3.  Faith,  in  this  connection, 
is  more  than  that  which  comes  by  hearing.  It  is  that  energy 
of  faith  which  carries  with  it  divine  power  (Matt.  17:  19,  20 ;  ch. 
13:  2).  4.  "Gifts  of  healing"  was  the  power  to  supernaturally 
restore  the  sick  (Acts  5:  15,  16;  Jas.  5:  14,  15).  This  gift  may 
have  been  separated  from  the  one  next  named,  because  some 
had  their  miraculous  power  limited  to  this  field.  5.  "Workings 
of  miracles"  was  larger  than  the  one  which  preceded  it,  for  it 
included  acts  of  judgment  as  well  as  mercy.  It  was  exercised 
by  Paul  in  striking  Elymas  blind,  and  by  Peter  in  the  punish- 
ment of  Ananias  and  Sapphira.    Paul  here  names  healing  first. 


AS   TO  SPIRITUAL    GIFTS  123 

possibly  because  those  who  are  called  upon  to  exercise  God's 
mercy  stand  higher  in  his  esteem  than  those  who  execute  his 
judgment,  for  pagans  and  unbelievers  have  often  been  used  by 
him  to  mete  out  punishment.  But  in  verse  28  he  reverses  the 
order,  for  the  greater  includes  the  less,  6.  The  "gift  of  proph- 
ecy" enabled  one  to  speak  the  truth  under  the  unerring 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  the  Old  Testament  this  gift 
was  a  very  important  one  ;  but  in  the  New,  the  "word  of  wis- 
dom," which  embraced  all  the  larger  scope  of  prophecy,  seems 
to  have  been  mainly  confined  to  the  apostles,  and  so  we  find  New 
Testament  prophets  merely  foretelling  things  of  a  temporary  or 
personal  nature,  as  in  the  case  of  Agabus  (Acts  11:  28;  21:  9- 
11).  7.  "Discernings  of  spirits"  was  the  power  to  recognize 
the  difference  between  the  utterances  of  genuine  inspiration 
and  those  of  a  demoniacal  or  an  unaided  human  spirit.  8. 
There  has  been  much  dispute  as  to  what  is  meant  by  "kinds 
of  tongues."  Some  modern  commentators  have  attempted  to 
show  that  the  gift  of  tongues  mentioned  in  the  Episdes  was 
entirely  different  from  the  ability  to  speak  foreign  languages 
manifested  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  The  weakness  of  those 
who  take  this  position  is  fully  exposed  by  Hodge  in  loco. 
Speaking  with  tongues  was  not  an  incoherent,  meaningless 
jargon  uttered  by  the  speaker  in  ecstatic  rhapsody,  nor  was  it 
"spiritual  language  unknown  to  man,  uttered  in  ecstacy." 
The  second  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Acts  shows  us  clearly  what 
it  was,  and  the  New  Testament  never  explains  it  as  being  any- 
thing less  or  different.  9.  "Interpretation  of  tongues"  was 
the  ability  to  interpret  what  was  said  by  the  one  who  spoke 
with  tongues.  The  gifts  of  speaking  and  interpreting  were 
sometimes  given  to  the  same  person  (14:  13),  and  sometimes 
to  different  persons.]  12  For  as  the  body  is  one,  and  hath 
many  members,  and  all  the  members  of  the  body, 
being  many,  are  one  body ;  so  also  is  Christ.  [Paul  here 
strikes  a  fatal  blow  at  that  pride  which  animated  those  who 
held  superior  gifts.  Can  there  be  pride  in  one  member  of  the 
body,  as  to  the  other  members  of  which  it  is  only  an  organic 
part?    But  all  Christians,  no  matter  how  they  differ  in  gifts, 


124   FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

are  parts  of  the  body  of  Christ.  Jesus  illustrated  the  organic 
unity  between  himself  and  the  church  under  the  figure  of  the 
vine  and  the  branches;  and  the  apostles,  carrying  the  figure 
forward  so  as  to  include  the  unity  existing  between  Christians, 
spoke  of  Christ  as  the  head  and  the  church  as  the  body,  or 
Christ  as  the  building  and  the  church  as  the  stones.  All  organ- 
ism supposes  both  unity  and  diversity.]  13  For  in  one  Spirit 
were  we  all  baptized  into  one  body,  whether  Jews  or 
Greeks,  whether  bond  or  free ;  and  were  all  made  to 
drink  of  one  Spirit.  [Paul  here  proves  the  unity  of  the 
church  by  the  method  of  its  creation.  One  Spirit,  acting 
through  the  apostles  and  all  other  evangelists  and  'ministers  (i 
Thess.  i:  5),  had  begotten  people  of  different  races  and  nation- 
alities and  conditions  (John  3:5),  and  had  caused  them  to  be 
baptized  into  the  one  church,  and  had  bestowed  itself  upon 
them  after  they  had  been  thus  baptized  (Acts  2:  38).  Thus  it 
had  made  them  one  organism.  Paul  speaks  of  the  bestowal  of 
the  Spirit  under  the  figure  of  the  living  water  used  by  Jesus 
(John  7:  37).  As  the  spirit  of  a  man  keeps  up  the  organic 
unity  of  the  body,  so  the  Spirit  of  God  had  vivified  and  organ- 
ized the  church.]  14  For  the  body  is  not  one  member, 
but  many.  15  If  the  foot  shall  say.  Because  I  am  not 
the  hand,  I  am  not  of  the  body ;  it  is  not  therefore  not 
of  the  body.  16  And  if  the  ear  shall  say.  Because  I  am 
not  the  eye,  I  am  not  of  the  body ;  it  is  not  therefore 
not  of  the  body.  [This  passage  exposes  the  folly  of  those 
who  were  belittling  themselves  in  the  presence  of  their  fellow- 
Christians.  Being  in  the  church,  they  were  organically  united 
to  the  entire  church  body.  If  they  felt  that  their  inferiority  in 
gifts  excluded  them,  they  were  not  thereby  excluded.  Their 
false  views  and  false  assertions  did  not  alter  their  true  condi- 
tion. Paul  associates  the  members  of  action  (foot  and  hand) 
and  the  members  of  sensation  (eye  and  ear),  and  represents 
each  as  complaining  against  the  other,  because  men  are  apt  to 
be  envious  and  to  disparage  themselves  as  to  those  who  have 
superior  gifts  similar  to  their  own.  We  are  not  envious  of  those 
whose  gifts  are  dissimilar.     It  is  the  foot  and  not  the  eye  that 


AS    TO  SPIRITUAL    GIFTS  125 

envies  the  hand.]  17  If  the  whole  body  were  an  eye, 
where  were  the  hearing  ?  If  the  whole  were  hearing, 
where  w^ere  the  smelling?  18  But  now^  [(as  things 
actually  are)]  hath  God  set  the  members  each  one  of 
them  in  the  body,  even  as  it  pleased  him.  19  And  if 
they  were  all  one  member,  where  were  the  body?  20 
But  now  they  are  many  members,  but  one  body.  [The 
necessity  for  diversity  is  here  shown.  If  all  the  church  were 
teachers,  who  could  be  taught  ?  If  all  were  healers,  who  could 
receive  healing?  If  all  were  preachers,  who  could  listen? 
The  glory  of  all  organism  is  its  diversity,  and  the  more  diverse 
its  functions,  the  higher  it  ranks  in  the  scale  of  life.]  21  And 
the  eye  cannot  say  to  the  hand,  I  have  no  need  of  thee : 
or  again  the  head  to  the  feet,  I  have  no  need  of  you. 
[The  interdependence  of  the  members  is  here  shown.  If,  as 
we  have  seen  above,  the  humbly  envious  one  felt  as  if  he  were 
not  included  in  the  church,  the  proudly  superior  member  felt 
as  if  the  humbler  one  should  be  excluded.  Here  we  find  the 
eye  and  hand  associated  contrary  to  the  usage  in  verses  15 
and  16.  Those  who  are  puffed  up  with  some  great  gift  do  not 
see  the  need  of  any  other  gifts  save  their  own.  But  they 
tolerate  those  who  have  their  gift  in  less  degree,  for  such  form 
a  background  to  show  off  their  excellencies.  We  have  seen 
vain  singers  who  esteemed  the  preaching  as  of  very  little  im- 
portance, and  vice  versa.  Paul  continues  to  discuss  this  inter- 
dependence.] 22  Nay,  much  rather,  those  members  of 
the  body  which  seem  to  be  more  feeble  are  necessary : 
23  and  those  parts  of  the  body,  which  we  think  to  be 
less  honorable,  upon  these  we  bestow  more  abundant 
honor;  and  our  uncomely  parts  have  more  abundant 
comeliness ;  24  whereas  our  comely  parts  have  no 
need:  but  God  tempered  the  body  together,  giving 
more  abundant  honor  to  that  part  which  lacked ;  25 
that  there  should  be  no  schism  in  the  body  ;  but  that 
the  members  should  have  the  same  care  one  for 
another.  26  And  whether  one  member  suffereth,  all 
the  members  suffer  with  it ;  or  one  member  is  honored, 


126   FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

all  the  members  rejoice  with  it.  27  Now  ye  are  the 
body  of  Christ,  and  severally  members  thereof.  [The 
hands  and  face  have  no  need  of  adornment,  but  the  rest  of  the 
body,  being  less  comely,  is  made  beautiful  with  clothing,  so 
that  a  state  of  equilibrium  is  established,  and  the  whole  body  is 
acceptable  to  the  indwelling  Spirit  as  its  home.  If  any  part  of 
the  body  lacks  in  beauty,  the  attention  of  the  whole  body  is 
drawn  to  it,  and  employed  to  better  its  condition.  Moreover, 
the  parts  suffer  or  rejoice  as  a  whole.  Now,  God  intends  that 
the  church  shall  look  upon  itself  as  such  an  organic  whole,  and 
shall  feel  this  lively  concern  for  each  of  those  who  lack,  feeling 
that  the  lack  of  one  is  the  lack  of  all.  "When  a  thorn,"  says 
Chrysostom,  "enters  the  heel,  the  whole  body  feels  it,  and  is 
concerned:  the  back  bends,  the  fore  part  of  the  body  contracts 
itself,  the  hands  come  forward  and  draw  out  the  thorn,  the  head 
stoops,  the  eyes  regard  the  aft'ected  member  with  intense  gaze. 
When  the  head  is  crowned,  the  whole  man  feels  honored,  the 
mouth  expresses  and  the  eyes  look  gladness."]  28  And  God 
hath  set  some  in  the  church,  first  apostles,  secondly 
prophets,  thirdly  teachers,  then  miracles,  then  gifts  of 
healings,  helps,  governments,  divers  kinds  of  tongues. 
29  Are  all  apostles  ?  are  all  prophets  ?  are  all  teach- 
ers ?  are  all  workers  of  miracles  ?  30  have  all  gifts  of 
healings  ?  do  all  speak  with  tongues  ?  do  all  interpret? 
[Paul  here  completes  his  analogy  by  showing  that  the  gifts 
bestowed  upon  individuals  in  the  church  are  as  diverse  and 
variant  as  the  faculties  bestowed  upon  the  various  members 
of  the  body.  As  the  apostle  has  named  nine  spiritual  gifts,  so 
he  here  names  nine  positions  in  the  church.  These  may  be 
defined  thus:  i.  The  "apostles"  were  those  who  possessed 
plenary  inspiration.  They  could  at  all  times  and  on  all  subjects 
declare  the  will  of  God.  2.  "Prophets"  had  occasional  in- 
spiration, which  was  then  usually  of  a  very  limited  nature.  3. 
"Teachers"  were  uninspired  men  that  were  gifted  in  teaching 
and  explaining  the  historic  truths  of  the  gospel  and  the  doc- 
trinal truths  which  came  through  inspiration,  for  those  having 
prophetic  gifts  did  not  always  fully  understand  the  import  of 


AS    TO  SPIRITUAL    GIFTS  127 

their  own  words  (i  Pet.  i:  ii,  12).  4  and  5.  Those  who 
worked  miracles  and  had  the  gift  of  heaHng  have  been  spoken 
of  above.  6.  "Helps"  means  the  same  as  helpers.  In  our 
land  domestic  and  other  helpers  are  often  provincially  called 
"help."  It  here  refers  to  those  who  had  a  sympathetic  nature 
or  a  generous  spirit,  etc.  (Rom.  12:8).  7.  "Governments." 
This  refers  to  those  possessing  powers  of  leadership  and  organi- 
zation, those  having  administrative  ability,  such  as  the  elders. 
8  and  9.  "Divers  kinds  of  tongues"  and  the  power  to  interpret 
the  same,  have  already  been  described.  These  appear  to  have 
been  ranked  first  in  importance  by  the  Corinthians,  because 
most  showy,  and  they  are  here  placed  last  by  the  apostles  be- 
cause they  added  but  little  to  edification,  and  were  of  small 
practical  value.]  31  But  desire  earnestly  the  greater 
gifts.  [Though  these  powers  were  bestowed  as  gifts  by  the 
Spirit,  yet  they  were  not  bestowed  blindly.  They  were  apt  to 
be  conferred  upon  those  who  strove  to  be  worthy  of  them.] 
And  moreover  a  most  excellent  way  show  I  unto  you. 
[This  may  mean  that  I  show  you  a  most  excellent  way  to  attain 
unto  the  best  gifts;  or,  I  show  you  a  way  of  love  to  which  all 
may  attain,  and  which  far  exceeds  any  gift  or  position.  This 
way  of  love  will  be  fully  described  in  the  next  chapter.] 


X. 

AS   TO   THE   SUPREMACY   OF   LOVE. 
13:  1-13. 

[This  chapter  has  been  admired  by  all  ages,  but,  unfortunate- 
ly, it  has  been  practiced  by  none.  In  it  Paul  shows  that  love  is 
superior  to  all  extraordinary  gifts,  both  by  reason  of  its  inherent 
excellency  and  its  perpetuity.  Also  that  it  surpasses  all  other 
graces.]  1  If  I  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of 
angels,  but  have  not  love,  I  am  become  sounding  brass, 
or  a  clanging  cymbal.  [The  apostle  first  compares  love 
with  that  gift  of  tongues  in  which  the  Corinthians  took  so  much 


128    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

pride.  The  comparison  shows  that  speaking  with  tongues, 
even  if  it  were  exercised  in  an  unexampled  manner,  is  utter 
emptiness  unless  accompanied  by  love.  The  gift  of  tongues, 
even  when  it  attained  its  highest  conceivable  development,  is 
inferior  to  the  language  of  angels ;  but  even  if  one  spoke  with 
all  the  gifts  of  language  hurnari  or  divine,  his  vv^ord,  if  loveless, 
would  be  but  a  vainglorious  noise,  or  sounds  without  soul  or 
feeling;  such  as  come  from  pounding  on  some  brazen  gong  or 
basin,' or  from  cymbals,  which  are  the  lowest,  most  monot- 
onous, least  expressive  of  all  musical  instruments.  It  is  sug- 
gestive that  Paul  had  doubtless  heard  the  language  of  angels 
(2  Cor.  12:  4).  Corinthian  brass  was  a  mixture  of  gold  and 
silver,  and  was  famous  for  its  resonance  when  made  into 
trumpets,  etc.]  2  And  if  I  have  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and 
know  all  mysteries  and  all  knowledge ;  and  if  I  have  all 
faith,  so  as  to  remove  mountains,  but  have  not  love,  I  am 
nothing.  [Love  is  next  compared  with  the  gifts  of  prophecy 
and  miracle-working  faith  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter.  The 
gift  of  prophecy  manifested  itself  in  two  ways:  i.  Ability  to 
receive  revelations  of  those  counsels  of  God  which  were  either 
not  revealed  at  all,  or  else  concealed  in  mystery  (Matt.  13:  11  ; 
Rom.  16:  27;  ch.  2:  17;  Eph.  3:  3,  9;  Col.  i:  26).  2.  AbiHty 
to  fully  understand  the  revelations  in  all  their  bearings  upon 
present  and  future  life,  former  revelations,  dispensations,  etc. 
This  latter  Paul  calls  "knowledge."  The  phrase  "I  would  not 
have  you  ignorant,"  so  famiHar  in  his  writings,  shows  how  fre- 
quently he  used  this  knowledge  to  impart  the  full  truth  to 
others.  The  fate  of  those  who  exercised  the  gift  of  prophecy 
and  miracles  without  love  is  described  at  Matt.  27:  21-23. 
Balaam,  Judas  and  Caiaphas  may  be  taken  as  examples,  and 
Satan  himself  is  partially  such.  To  say  that  one  possessed  of 
such  gifts  was  "nothing"— a  spiritual  cipher — was  a  crushing 
blow  to  the  pride  and  vanity  of  the  Corinthians.  We  see  that 
Paul  agrees  with  James  that  faith  which  does  not  work  in  love 
is  profitless — Jas.  2:26;  comp.  Gal.  5:6;  i  Thess.  1:2.]  3 
And  if  I  bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  if  I 
give  my  body  to  be  burned,  but  have  not  love,  it  prof* 


AS    TO    THE  SUPREMACY  OF  LOVE        129 

iteth  me  nothing.  [Love  is  here  contrasted  with  those  works 
of  charity  and  self-sacrifice  which  are  included  under  the  term 
**helps;"  so  that  in  his  comparison  Paul  practically  exhausts 
the  whole  catalogue  of  gifts  described  in  the  last  chapter,  and 
shows  the  entire  supremacy  of  love  over  all  of  them.  The 
word  translated  ''bestow  to  feed,"  means  to  dole  away  in 
mouthfuls,  and  suggests  that  though  the  giving  was  entire  and 
exhaustive,  yet  the  manner  of  giving  was  so  parsimonious  and 
grudging  as  to  emphasize  the  lack  of  love.  From  giving  goods 
Paul  passes  to  that  higher  order  of  giving  in  which  the  body  is 
presented  as  a  sacrifice  to  God,  either  by  martyrdom,  or  as  a 
daily  offering  (Rom.  12:  i ;  ch.  15:  31 ;  2  Cor.  12:  15  ;  11:  29). 
It  has  been  urged  that  Paul  could  not  refer  to  martyrdom,  for, 
though  Christians  were  burned  by  fire  in  great  numbers  some 
ten  years  later,  yet  there  is  no  account  of  any  such  form  of 
martyrdom  when  Paul  wrote.  But  the  mere  silence  of  history 
proves  nothing;  besides,  the  case  of  the  three  Hebrews  is  prec- 
edent enough  (Dan.  3:  23,  28;  comp.  Heb.  11:  34).  See  also 
2  Mace.  7.  ,  Willingness  to  fight  and  die  for  Christianity  will 
not  take  tne  place  of  loving  obedience  to  Christ.  Having  shown 
the  supremacy  of  love  when  compared  with  miraculous  gifts, 
Paul  now  enters  upon  a  discussion  of  the  intrinsic  merits  of 
love,  thus  preparing  his  hearers  to  grasp  the  superiority  of  love 
over  the  other  two  graces.  He  gives  nine  negative  and  six,  or 
rather  eight,  positive  qualities  of  love.  All  seventeen  qualities 
will  be  found  beautifully  exemplified  in  the  life  of  our  Lord. 
The  Corinthians  were  conspicuously  lacking  in  the  four  which 
head  Paul's  catalogue,  as  will  be  shown  by  comparing  them 
with  ch.  6:7;  12:  15,  21,  26;  4:6,  18,  19.]  4  Love  suffer- 
eth  long,  and  is  kind  [In  this  catalogue  the  first  and  last 
negative  qualities  are  coupled  with  their  corresponding  posi- 
tives, suggesting  a  like  coupling  throughout.  Love  suffers  evil 
and  confers  blessing,  and  seeks  to  thus  overcome  evil  with  good 
—Rom.  12:21;  Matt.  23:37;  Luke  22:48,  50,  51];  love 
envieth  not  [Is  not  jealous  of  the  gifts,  goods  or  fortune  of 
another,  nor  of  his  spiritual  prosperity,  as  was  Cain  (Gen.  4  : 
3-8).     Love  excludes  this  feeling ;  the  parent  does  not  envy  the 


130    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

child  (Rev.  3:  21).  Moses  was  free  from  envy  (Num.  11:  26- 
29),  and  so  also  was  John  the  Baptist— John  3:  26-30]  ;  love 
vaunteth  not  itself  [does  not  parade  itself — Matt.  6:  i  ;  Acts 
8:  9;  Matt.  11:  29;  12:  19,  38,  39;  21:  5],  is  not  puffed  up 
[is  not  inflated  with  pride  or  arrogance,  because  of  wealth, 
knowledge,  power,  etc. — Acts  12:  20-23 ;  John  13:  1-5],  5  doth 
not  behave  itself  unseemly  [Self-love  betrays  its  lack  of 
sympathy  by  vulgar  indecorum,  and  cares  not  how  offensive  its 
conduct  is  towards  others.  Manners  often  give  the  measure  of 
the  man  (Luke  7:  44-47;  23:  11 ;  John  13:  14,  15).  Christians 
should  manifest  a  courteous  spirit— i  Pet.  3^  8,  9  ;  Luke  2:  51, 
52],  seeketh  not  its  own  [Love  is  unselfish  and  disinterested, 
and  is  happy  in  the  happiness  of  others  (Rom.  12:  10  ;  15:  1-3  ; 
Phil.  2:4;  Matt.  8:20;  20:28).  Self-love  is  grasping  and 
productive  of  evil— ch.  10:  24-33  ;  Luke  12:  13-21],  is  not 
provoked  [It  does  not  lose  its  temper;  is  not  easily  roused 
to  resentment.  The  same  word  is  used  for  the  "sharp  conten- 
tion" between  Paul  and  Barnabas  (Acts  15:  39).  Love  curbs 
exasperation— Isa.  53:  7  ;  Matt.  26:  62,  63  ;  i  Pet.  2:  23  ;  Heb. 
12:  3],  taketh  not  account  of  evil  [Is  not  suspicious  of  evil, 
is  not  careful  to  retain  the  memory  of  it,  and  does  not  keep  a 
record  of  it  for  the  purpose  of  returning  it.  It  continues  its 
blessing  despite  rebuffs— John  10:  32]  ;  6  rejoiceth  not  in 
unrighteousness,  but  rejoiceth  with  the  truth  [It  does 
not  rejoice  in  seeing  sin  committed  nor  in  the  downfall  of  those 
who  are  overcome  by  it  (Rom.  i:  32;  2  Thess.  2:  12;  comp. 
John  8:3-11),  but  is  glad  when  truth  puts  down  iniquity  (2 
John  4;  Acts  11:23;  Luke  10:17-21;  comp.  2  Tim.  3:8). 
Possibly  the  verse  also  includes  that  malignant  joy  which  many 
feel  at  the  mishaps  or  misfortunes  of  others.  It  certainly  con- 
demns that  false  charity  which  compromises  truth— Prov.  17:  i5; 
Gal.  1:9;  2:5,  11];  7  beareth  all  things  [it  endures 
wrongs  without  complaint,  and  bears  the  adversities,  troubles 
and  vexations  of  life  without  murmuring  (Matt.  17:  24-27),  and 
often  without  divulging  its  needy  condition— ch.  9:  12  ;  Phil. 
4:  II,  12],  believeth  all  things  [It  takes  the  kindest  views  of 
men's   actions   and   circumstances.      It   sees   things   in   their 


AS    TO   SUPREMACY  OF  LOVE  131 

brightest,  not  their  darkest,  colors ;  and,  as  far  as  it  consistently 
can,  puts  the  best  construction  on  conduct— Prov.  lo:  12;  i 
Pet.  4:8;  Gen.  45:5;  Luke  23:34],  hopeth  all  things 
[though  the  object  loved  is  confessedly  sinful  to-day,  yet  this 
supreme  grace  looks  with  eager,  hopeful  expectation  for  its  re- 
pentance on  the  morrow — ch.  3:  2,  3  ;  Luke  13:  6-9  ;  15:  20; 
20:  9-13],  endureth  all  things.  [The  word  "hupome7ioo,'* 
translated  "endureth,"  is  a  military  term,  and  means  to  sustain 
an  assault ;  hence  it  has  reference  to  heavier  afflictions  than 
those  sustained  by  the  "beareth"  of  verse  7.  It  refers  to  gross 
ill-treatment,  violence  and  persecution,  and  such  grievances  as 
provoke  resistance,  strife,  etc.  (2  Tim.  2:  10,  24;  Heb.  10:  32; 
12:  2;  Matt.  5:  39;  comp.  John  18:  22,  23,  with  Acts  23:  2-5). 
The  enduring  is  not  simply  that  dogged  persistency  which  bears 
up  despite  adversity,  it  is  an  endurance  which  forgives  offense 
(Luke  17:  4).  From  love  as  it  manifests  itself  in  daily  life  Paul 
now  rises  to  speak  of  love  in  its  essence.]  8  Love  never 
faileth :  but  whether  there  be  prophecies,  they  shall  be 
done  away;  whether  there  he  tongues,  they  shall 
cease;  whether  there  he  knowledge,  it  shall  be  done 
away.  9  For  we  know  in  part,  and  we  prophesy  in 
part;  10  but  when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come,  that 
which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away.  11  When  I  was 
a  child,  I  spake  as  a  child,  I  felt  as  a  child,  I  thought  as 
a  child :  now  that  I  am  become  a  man,  I  have  put  away 
childish  things.  12  For  now  we  see  in  a  mirror,  dark- 
ly ;  but  then  face  to  face :  now  I  know  in  part ;  but 
then  shall  I  know  fully  even  as  also  I  was  fully  known. 
[The  superlative  excellence  of  love  is  here  shown  in  that  it 
survives  all  things  with  which  it  may  be  compared,  and  reveals 
its  close  relation  to  God  whose  name  is  love  (i  John  3:  8),  by 
its  eternal,  luiperishable  nature.  Prophecies,  tongues  and 
knowledge— three  supernatural  gifts  though  they  were — were 
mortals  compared  with  the  divine  spirit  of  love.  They  were 
needful  in  developing  the  infant  church,  but  as  that  institution 
passed  onward  toward  maturity  and  perfection  (Heb.  5:  12-14; 
6:  if;  Eph.  3:  14-21 ;  4:  11-16),  they  were  outgrown  and  discon- 


132    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    7^ HE  CORINTHIANS 

tinued,  because  from  them  had  been  developed  the  clear, 
steady  light  of  the  recorded  Word,  and  the  mature  thoughtful- 
ness  and  assurance  of  a  well-instructed  church.  They  were 
thrown  aside,  therefore,  as  the  wheat  stalk  which  has  matured 
its  grain  ;  or,  to  use  Paul's  own  figure,  put  away  as  the  speech, 
feeling  and  judgment  of  childhood  when  they  have  produced 
their  corresponding  faculties  in  manhood.  Though  the  triplet 
of  child-faculties — speech,  feeling,  thought,  do  not  form  a  close 
parallel  with  the  triplet  of  gifts — tongues,  prophecies,  knowl- 
edge, yet  they  were  alike  in  that  to  both,  the  child  and  the 
church,  they  seemed  severally  all-important.  All  Christians 
who  mistakenly  yearn  for  a  renewal  of  these  spiritual  gifts, 
should  note  the  clear  import  of  these  words  of  the  apostle, 
which  show  that  their  presence  in  the  church  would  be  an 
evidence  of  immaturity  and  weakness,  rather  than  of  fully  de- 
veloped power  and  seasoned  strength.  But  if  the  gifts  have 
passed  from  the  church  as  transient  and  ephemeral,  shall  not 
that  which  they  have  produced  abide  ?  Assuredly  they  shall, 
until  that  which  is  perfect  is  come  ;  i.  e.,  until  the  coming  of 
Christ.  Then  prophecy  shall  be  merged  into  fulfillment,  and 
the  dim  light  of  revelation  shall  be  broadened  into  the  perfect 
day.  We  to-day  see  the  reflection  of  truth,  rather  than  the 
truth  itself.  It  has  come  to  us  through  the  medium  of  minds 
which,  though  divinely  illuminated,  were  yet  finite,  and  it  has 
modified  itself,  though  essentially  spiritual,  so  as  to  be  clothed 
in  earthly  words;  and  it  is  grasped  and  comprehended  by  us 
through  the  use  of  our  material  brains.  Thus,  though  perfect 
after  its  kind,  and  true  as  far  as  it  goes,  our  present  knowledge 
of  heavenly  things  is  perhaps  as  far  from  the  full  reality  as  is 
the  child's  conception  of  earthly  things  (John  3:  12).  And  so 
our  present  knowledge  may  well  merge,  as  will  prophecy,  into 
a  higher  order  of  perfection,  wherein  both  the  means  of  mani- 
festation (2  Cor.  5:  7)  and  of  comprehension  (i  John  3:  2)  will 
be  wholly  perfect.  So,  though  at  present  we  may  indeed  know 
God,  yet  our  knowledge  is  more  that  received  by  description, 
than  that  which  is  received  by  direct,  clear  sight,  and  personal 
acquaintance;   but  hereafter  we  shall  know  God  in  some  sense 


AS   TO  SUPREMACY  OF  LOVE  133 

as  he  knows  us,  and  know  the  beings  of  the  heavenly  land  as 
thoroughly  as  they  now  know  us.  Mirrors  were  then  made  of 
polished  silver  or  brass,  and  were  far  more  indistinct  than  our 
present  glasses;  so  that  to  see  a  reflection  in  one  of  them  was 
far  less  satisfactory  than  to  see  the  reality.]  13  But  now  [in 
this  present  state]  abideth  faith,  hope,  love,  these  three ; 
and  the  greatest  of  these  is  love.  [If  we  give  the  phrase 
"but  now"  its  other  sense,  as  though  the  apostle  said  "But  to 
sum  things  up,  to  give  the  net  results,"  then  we  have  him  saying 
that  faith,  hope  and  love  are  eternal.  While  it  is  true  that  faith 
in  the  sense  of  trust  and  confidence,  and  hope  in  the  sense  of  un- 
clouded expectation,  shall  abide  in  heaven,  yet,  in  their  large, 
general  meaning,  faith  shall  be  lost  in  sight,  and  hope  in  fruition 
(Rom.  8:  24,  25).  It  therefore  seems  more  consistent  to  under- 
stand the  apostle  as  asserting  that  the  three  graces  shall  abide 
while  the  earth  stands;  in  contrast  with  miraculous  gifts, 
which,  according  to  his  own  prophetic  statement,  have  ceased. 
He  does  not  explain  the  superior  excellence  of  love  when 
compared  with  faith  and  hope,  but  the  points  of  superiority  are 
not  hard  to  find.  i.  If  all  three  are  eternal,  the  other  two  shall 
be  greatly  diminished  as  graces  by  the  Lord's  coming,  while 
love  shall  be  infinitely  enlarged.  2.  Love  is  the  basis  of  faith 
and  hope,  for  we  only  fully  believe  in  and  hope  for  that  which 
we  love.  3.  Faith  and  hope  are  human,  but  God  himself  is 
love.  4.  Faith  and  hope  can  only  properly  work  by  love,  and 
are  worthless  without  it.  But  here  the  superiority  is  not  so 
clear,  for  the  three  graces  go  hand  in  hand. 


XI. 

SPIRITUAL   GIFTS    CONCLUDED. 

14:  1-40. 

1  Follow  after  love ;  yet  desire  earnestly  spiritual 
giftSy  but  rather  that  ye  may  prophesy.  [From  the  dis- 
cussion of  spiritual  gifts  Paul  turned  aside  in  the  last  chapter 


134   FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

to  show  that  love  is  superior  to  all  gifts.  Having  finished  his 
digression,  he  now  resumes  the  subject  of  gifts,  and  proceeds  to 
show  that  the  pursuit  of  love,  as  of  supreme  importance,  does 
not  exclude  the  desire  of  gifts,  as  of  secondary  importance. 
Having  thus  brought  the  subject  of  gifts  again  into  discussion, 
he  asserts  that  prophecy  is  superior  to  the  gift  of  tongues,  and 
proves  his  assertion  by  showing  that  it  is  the  more  useful  in 
the  edification  of  the  church.  Incidentally  his  argument  shows 
that  though  the  Spirit  gave  the  gift  of  tongues  to  men,  that 
men  abused  the  gift ;  and  so  the  Spirit,  through  Paul  as  its 
instrument,  reproves  and  corrects  this  abuse.  Prophecy,  as 
here  discussed,  means  preaching  under  divine  guidance,  and 
the  gift  of  tongues  was  not  a  gift  of  the  knowledge  of,  but  of 
the  use  of,  foreign  languages.  The  one  having  it  could  declare 
God's  will  in  a  foreign  tongue,  and  could  sometimes  even  in- 
terpret what  he  had  declared;  but  he  could  not  use  the  lan- 
guage for  business  conversation,  or  any  personal  or  worldly 
purpose.]  2  For  he  that  speaketh  in  a  tongue  speaketh 
not  unto  men,  but  unto  God ;  for  no  man  understand- 
eth ;  but  in  the  spirit  he  speaketh  mysteries.  3  But 
he  that  prophesieth  speaketh  unto  men  edification, 
and  exhortation,  and  consolation.  4  He  that  speaketh 
in  a  tongue  edifieth  himself ;  but  he  that  prophesieth 
edifieth  the  church.  [The  apostle  here  lays  the  ground- 
work of  his  argument.  Prophecy  is  superior  to  the  gift  of 
tongues,  because  more  profitable.  The  speaker  with  tongues, 
exercising  his  spiritual  gift  (Rev.  i:  lo),  might  indeed  speak 
the  divine  truths  or  mysteries  of  God ;  but,  speaking  them  in 
a  foreign  language,  he  would  be  understood  only  by  God  and 
himself,  and  so  would  only  edify,  etc.,  himself.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  prophet,  declaring  the  same  or  kindred  mysteries  in 
the  vernacular,  would  be  understood  by  all  present,  and  thus 
he  would  transform  the  mysteries  into  revelations,  which  would 
benefit  the  church,  either  edifying  it,  so  as  to  enlighten  its  igno- 
rance ;  or  rousing  its  latent  energies,  so  as  to  dispel  its  sluggish- 
ness ;  or  comforting  it,  so  as  to  remove  its  sorrows.  In'  short, 
tongues  might  excite  wonder  (Acts  2:  12),  but  preaching  brought 


SPIRITUAL    GIFTS   CONCLUDED  135 

forth  Iruit  (Acts  2:  36-42)  and  the  Corinthian  church  had  need 
to  be  more  fruitful,  since  it  was  not  eminent  for  its  hoHness  or  its 
works.     Paul  does  not  mean  to  say  that  no  man  living  could 
understand  the  tongues,  or  that  they  were  mere  jargon.     He 
means  that  no  man  present  in  the  usual  Corinthian  assemblies 
understood  them.     Had  speaking  with  tongues  been  mere  hys- 
terical "orgiastic"  jargon,  it  certainly  would  not  have  bodied 
forth  the  mysteries  of  God,  nor  would  it  have  edified  the  one 
speaking,  nor  could  it  have  been  interpreted  by  him  or  by  others 
as  Paul  directs.     Those  who  belittle  the  gift  by  construing  it  as 
a  mere  jargon  approach  dangerously  near  making  Paul  (and 
themselves  likewise)  criticize  the  Holy  Spirit  for  giving  such 
a  senseless,  abnormal  gift.    But  those  who  read  Paul  correctly 
find  that  he  is  only  censuring  the  abuse  of  the  gift  and  not  the 
nature  of  it.     It  was  useful  to  the   church  while  engaged  in 
missionary  work  in  foreign  fields.     But  it  became  a  source  of 
vanity  and  vainglorious  display  when  used  by  a  church  sitting 
idly  at  home.     To  the  missionary  it  was  a  splendid  addition 
to  the  gift  of  prophecy;    but  to  the  Corinthian  preachers  ex- 
horting in  their  home  church,  it  was  a  sad  subtraction  from 
that  gift.     The  fruits  of  the  Spirit  in  the  Christian  life  are  far 
enough    from    being    "orgiastic" — Gal.    5:  22.]      5    Now   I 
would  have  you  all  speak  with  tongues,  but  rather  that 
ye  should  prophesy :   and  greater  [because  more  profit- 
able] is  he  that  prophesieth  than  he  that  speaketh  with 
tongues,  except  he  interpret,  that  the  church  may  re- 
ceive edifying.     6   But  now,  brethren,  if  I  come  unto 
you  speaking  w^ith  tongues,  w^hat  shall  I  profit  you, 
unless  I  speak  to  you  either  by  way  of  revelation,  or 
of  knowledge,  or  of  prophesying,  or  of  teaching?    [The 
gift  of  tongues  had  a  subordinate  use  in  the  church  of  God,  as 
an  evidence  of  the  presence  of  the  Spirit  of  God.     Moreover, 
it  was  a  reserve  of  power,  liable  to  be  brought  into  active  use 
at  any  time  by  the  scattering  of  the  church  through  persecu- 
tion.    For  these  reasons,  and  also  to  show  that  he  writes  in  a 
spirit  of  generous  good-will,  Paul  expresses  a  wish  that  all  the 
churches  in  Corinth  might  be  endowed  with  this  gift.     But,  as 


136    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

a  more  practical  wish,  he  prefers  that  they  shall  be  able  to 
prophesy,  since  the  church  would  not  be  edified  by  the  use  of 
the  gift  of  tongues,  unless  the  foreign  language  used  was  inter- 
preted. If  Paul  came  to  them  as  a  visitor  or  missionary,  his 
profit  to  them  would  not  lie  in  his  speaking  with  tongues  (even 
though  he,  a  Jew,  spake  to  them  miraculously  in  their  own 
Greek  language) ;  but  it  would  lie  in  the  subject-matter  of  his 
utterance,  in  the  edification  which  he  conveyed,  Paul  names 
the  four  ways  in  which  men  may  be  edified  by  the  use  of  words, 
and  all  these  four  manners  were  as  much  at  the  command  of 
prophecy  as  they  were  at  that  of  the  gift  of  tongues.  Revela- 
tion is  the  unveiling  of  divine  truth  to  a  prophet,  and  prophecy 
is  the  impartation  of  that  truth  to  others.  Knowledge  is  the 
divine  illumination  of  the  mind  as  to  the  bearing  and  signifi- 
cance of  a  truth,  and  doctrine  is  the  impartation  to  another  of 
the  truth  thus  grasped.  These  are  all  matters  of  sense,  and 
not  of  sound  only.  But  speaking  with  tongues  in  the  presence 
of  those  not  understanding  the  language  spoken,  is  sound  with- 
out sense,  and  fails  to  convey  any  prophecy,  doctrine,  etc. 
Paul  goes  on  to  show  that  sound  without  sense  is  not  only 
profitless,  but  may  even  be  baneful.]  7  Even  things  with- 
out life,  giving  a  voice,  whether  pipe  or  harp,  if  they 
give  not  a  distinction  in  the  sounds,  how  shall  it  be 
known  what  is  piped  or  harped  ?  8  For  if  the  trumpet 
give  an  uncertain  voice,  who  shall  prepare  himself  for 
war?  9  So  also  ye,  unless  ye  utter  by  the  tongue 
speech  easy  to  be  understood,  how  shall  it  be  known 
what  is  spoken  ?  for  ye  will  be  speaking  into  the  air. 
10  There  are,  it  may  be,  so  many  kinds  of  voices  in 
the  world,  and  no  kind  is  without  signification.  11  If 
then  I  know  not  the  meaning  of  the  voice,  I  shall  be  to 
him  that  speaketh  a  barbarian  [a  foreigner— Acts  28:  2], 
and  he  that  speaketh  will  be  a  barbarian  unto  me.  12 
So  also  ye,  since  ye  are  zealous  of  spiritual  gifts,  seek 
that  ye  may  abound  unto  the  edifying  of  the  church. 
[If  there  be  any  place  where  sound  without  sense  is  apparently 
valuable,  or  profitable,  argues  Paul,  it  will  be  found  in  the 


SPIRITUAL    GIFTS   CONCLUDED  137 

use  of  musical  instruments.  But  even  here  there  are  laws  of 
cadence,  modulation,  harmony,  etc.,  which  form  a  veritable 
grammar  of  tongue-language,  which,  when  obeyed,  give  to 
music  what  we  may  call  a  tone-sense,  analogous  to  the  intel- 
lectual sense  embodied  in  language.  Hence  one  may  play  an 
instrument  so  as  to  make  it  meaningless,  and  if  he  does  he 
makes  it  profitless.  Moreover,  some  instruments,  such  as  the 
trumpet,  because  of  the  fixed  and  established  laws  of  tone,  are 
used  to  convey  a  language  as  well  defined  and  unmistakable  as 
that  of  the  voice.  Thus  certain  notes  on  the  trumpet  command 
a  charge,  others  the  joining  of  battle,  and  yet  others  the  retreat, 
etc.  Now,  if  the  trumpet  or  trumpeter  fails  to  produce  this 
tone-language  intelligibly,  the  army  is  thrown  into  confusion. 
Spiritual  guidance  uttered  in  an  unknown  tongue  was  like  a 
blare  of  the  trumpet  which  gave  no  order.  Both  disappointed 
the  expectation  of  the  listener.  Both  spoke  idly  into  the  air, 
instead  of  profitably  into  the  ear.  There  are  many  sounds  in 
the  world,  but  they  only  become  voices  when  they  convey  some 
form  of  sense.  Thus  we  speak  properly  enough  of  the  "voice 
of  the  trumpet,"  when  it  is  blown,  but  no  one  speaks  of  the 
voice  of  the  boiler  when  it  is  being  riveted.  Sense,  meaning, 
signification,  are  the  very  essence  of  voice — the  qualities  which 
distinguish  it  from  mere  sound.  If  you  use  your  voice  to*speak 
a  foreign,  and  hence  a  meaningless,  language,  you  degrade  it, 
so  that  to  your  hearer  it  becomes  a  mere  profitless  sound.  This 
you  should  not  do.  Since  you  earnestly  seek  gifts,  you  should 
seek  them  for  practical  purposes;  viz. :  for  the  abundant  edifica- 
tion of  the  church.]  13  Wherefore  let  him  that  speaketh 
in  a  tongue  pray  that  he  may  interpret.  14  For  if  I 
pray  in  a  tongue,  my  spirit  prayeth,  but  my  under- 
standing is  unfruitful.  15  What  is  it  then?  [What  is 
the  conclusion  of  the  argument?]  I  will  pray  with  the 
spirit,  and  I  will  pray  with  the  understanding  also :  I 
will  sing  with  the  spirit,  and  I  will  sing  with  the  un- 
derstanding also.  16  Else  if  thou  bless  with  the  spirit, 
how  shall  he  that  filleth  the  place  of  the  unlearned  say 
the  Amen  at  thy  giving  of  thanks,  seeing  he  knoweth 


138   FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

not  what  thou  sayest?  17  For  thou  verily  givest  thanks 
■well,  but  the  other  is  not  edified.     [The  one  who  was  so 

under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God  as  to  speak  with 
tongues,  produced  words  and  sentences  with  Httle  or  no  intel- 
lectual effort.  His  spirit,  being  in  accord  with  the  Spirit  of 
God,  uttered  the  exhortation  or  the  prayer  with  his  spirit  rather 
than  with  his  understanding.  Therefore,  taking  the  case  of 
prayer  as  an  example,  Paul  advises  that  the  understanding  be 
kept  as  active  as  the  spirit,  and  that  a  man  so  control  the  flow 
of  prayer  as  to  pause  from  time  to  time  that  he  might  interpret 
it,  thus  making  his  understanding  as  fruitful  as  his  spirit.  If  he 
does  not  do  this,  he  prays  with  his  tongue  indeed,  but  his  un- 
derstanding bears  no  fruit  in  the  congregation  where  he  prays. 
For  this  reason  the  apostle  made  it  his  rule  to  pray  with  his 
spirit  and  interpret  with  his  understanding,  and  to  sing  also  in 
like  manner.  If  the  speaker  did  not  do  this,  how  could  one 
who  was  not  gifted  to  interpret  say  Amen  to  the  petition 
offered,  seeing  that  he  knew  not  what  it  was  ?  Thus,  no  matter 
how  ably  the  gifted  one  might  pray,  the  ungifted  one  would  not 
be  edified.  Amen  was  then,  as  now,  the  word  of  ratification 
or  assent  to  an  expression  of  prayer  or  praise,  of  blessing  or 
cursing  (Deut.  27:  15  ;  Neh.  5:  13  ;  Rev.  5:  14).  Justin  Mar- 
tyr (Ap.,  c.  65,  67)  describes  the  use  of  the  Amen,  after  the 
prayer  at  the  communion  service.  It  is  to  that  or  some  similar 
use  that  Paul  refers.  Doddridge  justly  says  that  this  passage 
is  decisive  against  the  ridiculous  practice  of  the  church  of 
Rome  of  praying  and  praising  in  Latin,  which  is  not  only  a 
foreign,  but  a  dead,  tongue.  Moreover,  it  shows  that  prayer  is 
not  a  vicarious  duty  done  for  us  by  others.  We  must  join  in 
it.]  18  I  thank  God,  I  speak  with  tongues  more  than 
you  all :  19  howbeit  in  the  church  [congregation]  I  had 
rather  speak  five  words  with  my  understanding  [so  as 
to  be  understood],  that  I  might  instruct  others  also,  than 
ten  thousand  w^ords  in  a  tongue.  [Paul  was  thankful  for 
the  gift  of  tongues  because  of  its  utility,  but  especially  lest  any 
should  think  that  he  disparaged  the  gift  because  he  did  not 
have  it,  and  assigned  it  a  subordinate  place  from  envy.     His 


SPIRITUAL    GIFTS   CONCLUDED  139 

disparagement  is  most  emphatic.  "Rather  half  of  ten  of  the 
edifying  sort  than  a  thousand  times  ten  of  the  other,"  says 
Besser.  "There  is  a  lesson  here,"  says  Johnson,  "to  preachers 
who  are  so  learned  in  their  utterances  that  the  people  can  not 
understand  them."]  20  Brethren,  be  not  children  in 
mind :  yet  in  malice  be  ye  babes,  but  in  mind  be  men. 
[The  apostle  here  reiterates  the  thought  at  ch.  13:  11.  To  de- 
sire showy  and  comparatively  worthless  gifts  was  to  be  Hke 
children,  pleased  with  toys.  But  as  Paul  exhorted  them  to  be 
wise  as  men,  the  words  of  the  Lord  seem  to  have  flashed 
through  his  mind  (Matt.  10:  16)  so  that  he  parallels  men  with 
serpents  and  babes  with  doves.  "Yet  in  malice  be  ye  babes" 
is  a  parenthesis  added  by  way  of  fullness.  It  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  line  of  argument,  for  there  was  no  possible  malice  in 
the  use  of  tongues.]  21  In  the  law  it  is  written,  By  men 
of  strange  tongues  and  by  the  lips  of  strangers  will 
I  speak  unto  this  people ;  and  not  even  thus  w^ill  they 
hear  me,  saith  the  Lord.  22  Wherefore  tongues  are 
for  a  sign,  not  to  them  that  believe,  but  to  the  unbeliev- 
ing :  but  prophesying  h  for  a  sign,  not  to  the  unbeliev- 
ing, but  to  them  that  believe.  [The  Old  Testament  gener- 
ally is  often  called  the  Law  by  New  Testament  writers  (John 
10:34;  12:34;  Rom.  3:  20).  Therefore  the  reference  here  is 
not  to  the  Pentateuch,  but  to  Isa.  28:  11,  12.  There  the  prophet 
tells  how  Israel  murmured  at  the  quality  of  the  teaching  which 
God  gave  them,  and  states  that  as  a  consequence  God  would 
soon  teach  them  by  the  tongue  of  foreigners;  t.  e.,  the  Assyri- 
ans would  lead  them  away  captive  and  they  should  be  in- 
structed by  the  hardships  of  captivity.  When  the  captivity 
came,  the  necessity  to  understand  and  speak  a  strange  tongue 
was  a  sign  that  God  was  teaching  them,  and  yet  a  sign  which 
they  did  not  heed.  From  this  incident  Paul  apparently  draws 
several  conclusions  :  i.  It  was  no  especial  mark  of  divine  favor 
to  have  teachers  who  spoke  an  unknown  tongue.  2.  Tongues 
were  for  unbelievers  and  prophecy  for  believers.  3.  Tongues 
were  a  sign  that  God  was  teaching,  but  the  teaching  itself  was 
better  than  the  sign.      4.    Tongues,   unless  understood,   had 


140    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 

never  been  profitable;  i.  e.,  had  not  produced  conversion.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  Paul  has  in  mind  the  abuse  rather 
than  the  proper  use  of  tongues.  He  illustrates  his  meaning  by 
a  hypothetical  case.]  23  If  therefore  the  whole  church 
be  assembled  together  and  all  speak  with  tongues, 
and  there  come  in  men  unlearned  [not  having  the  gift  to 
interpret  tongues,  and  not  being  educated  in  foreign  languages] 
or  unbelieving  [and  hence  having  no  faith  in  the  works  of 
the  Spirit],  will  they  not  say  [because  of  the  queer  and  un- 
intelligible sounds  which  ye  are  making]  that  ye  are  mad? 
24  But  if  all  prophesy,  and  there  come  in  one  unbe- 
lieving or  unlearned,  he  is  reproved  by  all,  he  is  judged 
[Hterally,  cross-examined]  by  all;  25  the  secrets  of  his 
heart  are  made  manifest  [being  exposed  by  the  cleaving 
sword  of  the  Spirit  (Heb.  4:  12;  Jas.  i:  23,  24;  comp.  John  4 : 
19,  29] ;  and  so  he  w^ill  fall  down  on  his  face  [The  Ori- 
ental mode  of  showing  deep  emotion  (Isa.  45:  14;  i  Sam.  19- 
24).  Here  it  indicates  feelings  of  submission  and  self-abase- 
ment] and  worship  God,  declaring  that  God  is  among 
you  indeed.  [Paul  supposes  the  case  of  one  who  dropped 
into  the  meeting  out  of  curiosity.  If  he  heard  many  people 
speaking  at  once  in  an  unknown  tongue,  he  would  regard  the 
gathering  as  litde  better  than  bedlam  (Acts  2:  13),  and  the 
more  he  heard  speaking  at  once,  the  worse  it  would  be.  There- 
fore the  meeting  would  be  to  him  void  of  blessing  from  God, 
and  the  sign  without  any  signification,  for  he  would  hear  his 
fellow-citizens  addressing  him  in  a  foreign  tongue,  which  was 
to  him  a  mere  jargon,  instead  of  hearing  foreigners  address 
him  in  his  own  tongue,  similar  to  the  miracle  at  Pentecost.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  heard  all  his  fellow-citizens  prophesying 
in  his  own  tongue,  he  would  be  reproved  by  all,  and  the  secrets 
of  his  heart  would  be  laid  bare  as  though  he  had  been  cross- 
examined  by  a  skillful  attorney.  This  would  lead  to  his  con- 
version, and  so  be  of  profit  to  him,  and  would  make  him  a 
witness  to  the  divine  nature  of  the  church,  instead  of  one  who 
looked  upon  it  as  a  hive  of  fanatics.  Prophetic  preaching  must 
have  had  great  power  to  make  men  feel  that  they  stood  face 


SPIRITUAL    GIFTS   CONCLUDED  141 

to  face  with  God,  for  even  the  faithful  preaching  of  our  day 
lays  bare  the  sinner's  heart.  He  feels  that  sermons  are  aimed 
at  him,  and  is  often  convinced  that  some  one  has  been  tattling 
to  the  preacher  because  the  life  is  so  fully  exposed  by  his 
words.  It  should  be  observed  that  if  truth  is  more  potent  than 
signs,  much  more  is  it  more  efficacious  in  revivals  than  mere 
excitement  or  pumped-up  enthusiasm.]  26  What  is  it  then, 
brethren?  [See  comment  on  verse  15.]  When  ye  come 
together,  each  one  hath  a  psalm,  hath  a  teaching,  hath 
a  revelation,  hath  a  tongue,  hath  an  interpretation. 
Let  all  things  be  done  unto  edifying.  27  If  any  man 
speaketh  in  a  tongue,  let  it  he  by  two,  or  at  the  most 
three,  and  that  in  turn ;  and  let  one  interpret :  28  but 
if  there  be  no  interpreter,  let  him  keep  silence  in  the 
church  ;  and  let  him  speak  to  himself,  and  to  God.  29 
And  let  the  prophets  speak  hy  two  or  three,  and  let  the 
others  discern.  30  But  if  a  revelation  be  made  to 
another  sitting  by,  let  the  first  keep  silence.  31  For  ye 
all  can  prophesy  one  by  one,  that  all  may  learn,  and  all 
may  be  exhorted;  32  and  the  spirits  of  the  prophets 
are  subject  to  the  prophets ;  33  for  God  is  not  a  God 
of  confusion,  but  of  peace.  [Since  those  who  spoke  with 
tongues  were  not  understood,  they  could  all  speak  at  once 
without  any  loss.  Thus  confusion  was  fostered  and  encour- 
aged, and  those  who  came  with  other  contributions  to  the 
service,  such  as  psalms,  teachings,  revelations,  etc.,  were  pre- 
vented from  conferring  any  benefit  upon  the  congregation. 
The  apostle,  therefore,  orders  the  babel  of  tongues  to  be  sup- 
pressed, that  the  congregation  might  be  edified  by  these  other 
contributions.  Those  who  spoke  with  tongues  were  not  to 
monopolize  the  meeting.  In  a  large  church  like  Corinth, 
where  there  would  be  plenty  to  take  part  in  the  exercises  with 
psalms,  teachings,  interpretations  of  what  had  been  said  in 
tongues,  etc.,  there  was  the  opportunity  for  great  variety. 
Hence  Paul  forbids  more  than  three  to  speak  with  tongues  in 
one  exercise,  and  these  must  not  speak  all  at  once,  but  in  turn, 
and  they  must  pause  and  let  some  one   gifted  as  interpreter 


142    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

translate  what  they  had  said  for  the  edification  of  the  church. 
If  there  was  no  such  interpreter  present,  then  the  man  gifted 
with  tongues  must  keep  silence,  and  worship  within  himself  for 
the  edification  and  benefit  of  his  own  soul.  Moreover,  not 
more  than  three  prophets  must  speak  in  a  meeting,  and  the 
others  present  must  give  heed,  especially  those  competent  to 
discern  between  true  and  false  prophecies  (i  Thess.  5:  20,  21 ; 
I  John  4:  I ;  5:  37).  If  a  fresh  revelation  was  given  to  a 
prophet  while  another  prophet  was  speaking,  the  one  speaking 
was  to  give  place  and  keep  silence,  for  the  reception  of  a 
second  revelation  at  such  time  would  indicate  authoritatively 
that  the  first  revelation  had  been  sufficiently  explained.  There- 
fore, the  one  speaking  must  desist,  lest  two  should  speak  at  a 
time,  which  would  defeat  the  ends  of  instruction  and  exhorta- 
tion. To  enforce  this  rule  of  silence  the  apostle  asserts  the 
truth  that  prophets  can  control  their  spirits  while  under  the 
prophetic  influence.  This  guarded  against  the  possibility  that 
any  speaker  should  pretend  to  be  so  carried  away  by  the 
prophetic  influence  as  to  be  unable  to  stop.  God  does  not  so 
overcome  and  entrance  men  as  to  make  them  produce  con- 
fusion and  disorder,  for  he  is  the  God  of  order  and  of  peace. 
God  has  not  changed,  and  hysteria  and  frenzy,  though  they 
may  exist  in  his  churches  as  they  may  have  done  in  Corinth, 
are  not  from  him,  nor  according  to  his  will.  Even  in  the 
church  at  Corinth,  where  men  were  endowed  with  the  gifts  of 
the  Spirit,  all  disorders  were  abuses  of  the  spiritual  gift  and 
without  excuse.]  As  in  all  the  churches  of  the  saints, 
34  let  the  women  keep  silence  in  the  churches  :  for  it 
is  not  permitted  unto  them  to  speak ;  but  let  them  be 
in  subjection,  as  also  saith  the  law.  [Gen.  3:  16;  Num. 
30:  3-12.]  35  And  if  they  would  learn  anything,  let 
them  ask  their  ow^n  husbands  at  home :  for  it  is 
shameful  for  a  w^oman  to  speak  in  the  church.  [This  is 
usually  regarded  as  a  very  difficult  passage,  but  the  difficulties 
are  more  seeming  than  real,  if  we  regard  it  as  a  general  rule. 
Paul  gives  two  reasons  why  the  women  should  keep  silence : 
I.  The  Old  Testament  law  made  her  subject  to  her  husband, 


SPIRITUAL    GIFTS   CONCLUDED  143 

and  hence  not  a  teacher,  but  a  pupil.  2.  The  customs  of  the 
age  made  it  a  shameful  thing  for  a  woman  to  speak  in  public. 
Of  these,  of  course,  the  first  is  the  weightier,  and  yet  we  find 
exceptions  to  the  rule  in  both  dispensations.  There  were 
several  prophetesses  who  exercised  their  gifts  in  public  (Ex. 
15:20;  Judg.  4:4;  2  Kings  22:14;  Isa.  8:3;  Neh.  6:14; 
Luke  i:  41,  42;  2:  36-38;  Acts  21:  9).  Moreover,  the  fullness 
of  prophetic  endowment  granted  to  the  New  Testament  church 
was  matter  of  prophecy  (Acts  2:  17),  and  Paul  himself  gives 
directions  as  to  the  attire  of  women  when  exercising  the 
prophetic  office  in  the  church  (ch.  11:5).  Paul's  rule,  then, 
admits  of  exceptions.  Some  would  do  away  with  the  rule 
entirely  as  obsolete  on  the  ground  that  in  Christ  there  is 
neither  male  nor  female  (Gal.  3:  28) ;  but  this  is  undoubtedly 
unwarranted,  for  while  the  gospel  emancipated  woman,  it  did 
not  change  her  natural  relation  so  as  to  make  her  the  equal  of 
man.  The  powers  of  woman  have  become  so  developed,  and 
her  privileges  have  been  so  extended  in  gospel  lands,  that  it  is 
no  longer  shameful  for  her  to  speak  in  public;  but  the  failing 
of  one  reason  is  not  the  cessation  of  both.  The  Christian  con- 
science has  therefore  interpreted  Paul's  rule  rightly  when  it  ap- 
plies it  generally,  and  admits  of  exceptions.  The  gift  of  proph- 
ecy no  longer  exists  in  the  church,  but,  by  the  law  of  analogy, 
those  women  who  have  a  marked  ability,  either  for  exhortation 
or  instruction,  are  permitted  to  speak  in  the  churches.  More- 
over, the  apostle  is  speaking  of  the  regular,  formal  meeting  of 
the  church ;  and  it  is  doubtful  if  his  law  was  ever  intended  to 
apply  to  informal  gatherings  such  as  prayer-meetings,  etc. 
There  is  some  weight  to  the  comment  that  to  understand  the 
apostle  we  should  know  the  ignorance,  garrulity  and  degrada- 
tion of  Oriental  women.  Again,  women  are  indeed  subject  to 
their  husbands  (Eph.  5:  22;  Col.  2:  18;  Tit.  2:  5  ;  i  Pet.  3:  i). 
The  law  is  permanent,  but  the  application  of  it  may  vary.  If 
man  universally  gives  the  woman  permission  to  speak,  she  is  free 
from  the  law  in  this  respect.]  36  What?  [An  exclamation 
of  indignation]  was  it  from  you  that  the  word  of  God 
went  forth?   or  came  it  unto  you  alone?    [Becoming 


144    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

puffed  up  by  the  fullness  of  their  spiritual  gifts,  the  Corinthians 
were  acting  as  if  they  were  the  parent  church  and  only  church. 
They  were  assuming  the  right  to  set  precedent  and  dictate 
customs,  when  it  was  their  duty  to  conform  to  the  precedents 
and  customs  established  before  they  came  into  existence. 
Their  pretensions  needed  this  indignant  rebuke.  Others  were  to 
be  considered  besides  themselves,  others  who  had  sounded  out 
the  word  which  they  had  received  (i  Thess.  i:  8).  37  If  any 
man  thinketh  himself  to  be  a  prophet,  or  spiritual,  let 
him  take  knowledge  of  the  things  which  I  w^rite  unto 
you,  that  they  are  the  commandment  of  the  Lord.  38 
But  if  any  man  is  ignorant,  let  him  be  ignorant.  [Since 
Paul's  words  were  dictated  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  any  one 
filled  with  that  Spirit  would  be  guided  to  recognize  his  words 
as  of  divine  authority,  for  the  Spirit  would  not  say  one 
thing  to  one  man  and  another  to  another.  But  if  any  man  was 
so  incorrigibly  obstinate  as  to  refuse  to  be  enlightened  by  what 
the  Spirit  spoke  through  the  apostle,  there  was  no  further  appeal 
to  be  made  to  him  (Matt.  15:  14;  i  Tim.  6:  3-5).  Paul's  test 
is  still  of  force.  Whoso  professes  to  be  inspired,  yet  contra- 
dicts what  the  Spirit  of  God  has  already  said  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, is  self-convicted.  These  verses  mark  the  division 
between  Catholics  and  Protestants.  The  former  say  in  effect 
that  the  Spirit-filled  prophets  at  Corinth  could  modify,  alter, 
and  even  deny  what  was  spoken  by  the  Spirit-filled  Paul ;  for 
they  hold  that  the  pope  can  change  the  Scriptures  to  suit  him- 
self. But  Protestants  hold  that  a  man  shows  himself  to  be  led 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  when  he  assents  and  conforms  to  that 
which  has  been  spoken  by  men  of  undoubted  inspiration.]  39 
Wherefore,  my  brethren,  desire  earnestly  to  prophesy, 
and  forbid  not  to  speak  with  tongues.  40  But  let  all 
things  be  done  decently  and  in  order.  [Paul  concludes 
with  a  recapitulation.  The  higher  gift  is  to  be  sought  and  the 
lower  gift  is  not  to  be  prohibited.  But  as  a  caution  against  the 
abuse  of  the  lower  gift,  he  lays  down  that  rule  of  order  and 
decorum  which  the  church  has  too  often  forgotten  to  her 
sorrow.] 


AS    TO    THE  RESURRECTION  145 

XII. 

NINTH  RESPONSE.  AS  TO  THE  RESURRECTION. 

15:1-58. 

[The  response  in  this  section  also  is  rather  to  a  condition  of 
the  church  than  to  a  question.  In  the  eyes  of  the  Greeks  the 
body  was  the  prison-house  of  the  soul,  and  death  was  a  release 
of  the  soul  from  its  captivity.  The  resurrection  of  the  body, 
therefore,  was  regarded  by  them  as  a  calamity  rather  than 
as  a  blessing,  and  so  contrary  to  all  sound  philosophy  as  to 
excite  ridicule  (Acts  17: 32).  While  Paul  was  present  in 
Corinth,  his  firm  faith,  full  understanding,  and  clear  teach- 
ing, had  held  the  church  firmly  to  the  truth ;  but  in  his 
absence  the  church  had  grown  forgetful  of  the  precise  nature 
of  his  teaching,  and,  attempting  to  harmonize  the  gospel 
doctrine  of  a  resurrection  with  the  theories  of  their  own 
learned  teachers,  the  Greek  Christians  of  Corinth  had  many 
of  them  come  to  look  upon  the  resurrection  promised  to 
Christians  as  a  mere  resurrection  of  the  soul,  and  hence  as 
one  which,  as  to  the  dead,  was  already  past  (2  Tim.  2:  18). 
They  flatly  denied  the  possibility  of  a  bodily  resurrection. 
The  chapter  before  us  is  a  restatement  of  the  truth  as  opposed 
to  this  error,  and  a  general  discussion  of  the  doctrine  of  a 
resurrection  tending  to  remove  all  the  erroneous  views  which 
the  Greeks  held  with  regard  to  it.  This  chapter  has  been  read 
as  an  antidote  to  the  pain  of  death  at  millions  of  funerals.] 
1  Now  I  make  known  unto  you,  brethren,  the  gospel 
which  I  preached  unto  you,  which  also  ye  received, 
wherein  also  ye  stand,  2  by  which  also  ye  are  saved, 
if  ye  hold  fast  the  word  which  I  preached  unto  you, 
except  ye  believed  in  vain,  [or  without  cause.  In  these 
two  verses  Paul  reminds  them  of  many  important  facts,  as 
follows:  that  they  had  already  heard  the  gospel,  weighed, 
tested  and  received  it,  and  that  they  now  stood  as  a  church 
organized  under  it,  and  that  their  hopes  of  salvation  depended 


146    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO   THE   CORINTHIANS 

upon  their  holding  fast  to  it,  unless  they  had  believed  incon- 
siderately, under  the  impulse  of  a  mere  fitful  admiration.  His 
correlative  appeal  to  them  to  think  more  deeply  and  steadfastly 
will  be  found  in  the  last  verse  of  the  chapter.]  3  For  I  de- 
livered unto  you  first  of  all  [as  a  matter  of  primary  im- 
portance :  see  ch.  2:  3,  4]  that  which  also  I  received  [and 
hence  no  device  or  invention  of  my  own]  :  that  Christ  died 
for  our  sins  [to  atone  for  them — i  John  3:  5 ;  Gal.  1:4;  2 
Cor.  5:  15;  Tit.  2:  14]  according  to  the  scriptures  [Isa. 
53:5,  10;  Dan.  9:26;  Ps.  22:1-22;  Zech.  12:10];  4  and 
that  he  was  buried  [and  this  also  was  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures— Isa.  53:  9]  ;  and  that  he  hath  been  raised  on  the 
third  day  according  to  the  scriptures  [Ps.  16:  10;  Isa.  53: 
10;  Hos.  6:2;  Jonah  2:10.  Here  the  apostle  reminds  the 
Corinthians  that  the  message  which  he  delivered  to  them  was 
one  which  he  had  received  by  divine  revelation;  that  it  consisted 
of  three  pre-eminent  facts,  namely,  the  death,  burial  and  resur- 
rection of  the  Lord;  that  of  these  facts  the  two  which  were 
hard  to  believe,  /.  e.,  the  first  and  the  last,  were  made  more 
easy  of  belief  by  having  been  predicted  in  the  Scriptures,  the 
latter  with  minuteness,  even  as  to  the  day.  The  apostle  does 
not  waste  time  proving  the  death ;  it  was  witnessed  by  thou- 
sands, it  had  never  been  denied  by  friend  or  enemy,  and  it  was 
not  now  called  in  question  by  the  Corinthians.  The  third  item 
was  the  one  called  in  question,  and,  having  first  proved  it  by  a 
witness  before  the  fact  (the  Scriptures),  the  apostle  proceeds  to 
refresh  their  minds  as  to  how  fully  it  had  been  proved  by  wit- 
nesses after  the  fact  (viz. :  the  apostles  and  others),  thus  making 
them  again  aware  that  the  resurrection  was  a  Hteral,  historical, 
objective  fact.  A  fact  so  important  and  so  difficult  of  belief 
demanded  a  host  of  witnesses,  but  Paul  had  them  to  produce  ; 
this  thing  was  not  done  in  a  corner — Acts  26:  26]  ;  5  and  that 
he  appeared  to  Cephas  [Luke  24:  34]  ;  then  to  the  twelve 
[John  20:  26-29.  "The  twelve"  was  an  official  name  for  the 
apostles,  though  there  were  but  eleven  of  them  at  this  time]  ; 
6  then  he  appeared  to  above  five  hundred  brethren  at 
once,   of  whom  the   greater  part  remain    [among  the 


AS    TO    THE  RESURRECT/ON  147 

living]  until  now  [and  hence  are  producible  as  witnesses],  but 
some  are  fallen  asleep  [Matt.  28:  16] ;  7  then  he  ap- 
peared to  James  [Tliis  was  the  one  called  "the  brother  of 
our  Lord,"  and  "James  the  Just."  Though  Paul  speaks  of 
him  as  an  apostle  (Gal.  i:  19),  he  was  not  one  of  the  twelve. 
But  he  was  prominent  in  that  day  as  a  chief  elder  at  Jerusalem 
(Acts  15:  13;  21:  18;  Gal.  2:9,  11).  He  was  author  of  the 
Epistle  which  bears  his  name.  The  appearance  here  mentioned 
evidently  converted  James,  for  before  the  resurrection  the 
brethren  of  our  Lord  did  not  believe  on  him — comp.  John  12: 
3-5  ;  Acts  i:  14  ;  9:  5]  ;  then  to  all  the  apostles  [Acts  1:3]; 
8  and  last  of  all,  as  to  the  child  untimely  born,  he  ap- 
peared to  me  also.  [Acts  9:  5  ;  22:  14  ;  26:  16.  The  abor- 
tive child  is  usually  weak,  puny  and  undersized.  Paul  speaks 
of  himself  as  such  a  child  in  the  brotherhoood  of  the  apostles, 
and  does  this  without  mock  modesty  (comp.  2  Cor.  12:  11  ; 
Eph.  3:  8).  For  comment  on  this  catalogue  of  appearances,  see 
"Fourfold  Gospel,"  pp.  751,  753,  761,  764,  y66.  The  other  apos- 
tles had  three  years  and  a  half  filled  with  instruction,  and  so 
were  fully  developed  in  their  office;  while  Paul  became  a 
disciple  in  an  instant,  and  received  his  instructions  briefly  by  rev- 
elation.] 9  For  I  am  the  least  of  the  apostles,  that  am 
not  meet  to  be  called  an  apostle,  because  I  persecuted 
the  church  of  God.  [Comp.  Acts  7:  57 ;  8:  1-3  ;  9:  i ;  i  Tim. 
1:13;  Gal.  1:13]  10  But  by  the  grace  of  God  I  am 
■what  I  am :  and  his  grace  w^hich  w^as  bestowed  upon 
me  w^as  not  found  vain ;  but  I  labored  more  abundant- 
ly than  they  all:  yet  not  I,  but  the  grace  of  God  which 
was  with  me.  [Gal.  2:8;  Phil.  2:13;  Col.  1:29.]  11 
Whether  then  it  he  I  or  they,  so  we  preach,  and  so  ye 
believed.  [Paul  recognizes  the  tardiness  of  his  belief  on  the 
Lord  and  the  lateness  of  his  vision  of  him  as  an  evidence  of 
his  unworthiness.  Though  this  personal  allusion  appears  on  its 
face  to  be  a  digression  from  his  argument,  it  really  lends  great 
force  to  it.  There  could  be  no  higher  honor  known  to  men 
than  to  be  chosen  as  a  witness  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ. 
For  this  reason  it  might  be  thought  that   Paul  was  zealous  in 


148   FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

establishing  the  truth  of  the  resurrection  because  of  the  hojiors 
which  he  enjoyed  as  a  witness  to  that  truth.  But  he  reminds 
them  that  the  circumstances  under  which  he  saw  the  Lord  so 
emphasized  his  own  unworthi?iess  (he  being  then  on  his  way 
to  persecute  the  Christians  at  Damascus)  that  the  memory  of 
the  event  wakened  in  him  a  sense  of  humiliation  rather  than 
exaltation.  In  fact,  he  would  be  exalted  rather  than  dishonored 
by  their  unbelief,  for  he  could  claim  no  reverence  as  a  witness 
when  his  testimony  necessarily  involved  a  confession  of  his 
crimes.  But  having  confessed  his  crime  and  consequent  in- 
feriority, and  knowing  that  this  admission  would  be  most  strictly 
construed  by  those  who  disparaged  him  and  contended  that  he 
was  not  an  apostle,  he  rehabilitates  himself  by  showing  that  his 
own  littleness  had  been  made  big  by  the  abounding  grace  of 
God,  so  that  he  had  labored  more  abundantly  than  any  of  the 
apostles.  IMoreover,  those  to  whom  Peter  or  Apollos  were 
more  acceptable,  would  gain  nothing  by  their  partiality  and  dis- 
crimination in  respect  to  this  matter,  for  all  who  had  preached 
Christ  to  them  had  been  a  unit  in  proclaiming  the  resurrection. 
Christ  had  never  been  preached  otherwise  than  as  a  risen  one. 
Again,  this  preaching  had  resulted  in  their  believing,  which 
was  the  point  he  did  not  wish  them  to  lose  sight  of.  Having 
committed  themselves  to  belief,  they  did  wrong  in  thus  becom- 
ing champions  of  unbelief ;  /.  e.,  unbelief  in  the  resurrection. 
It  should  be  observed  that  in  proving  the  resurrection  Paul  cites 
witnesses  (i)  who  were  living;  (2)  who  were  many  of  them 
commonly  known  by  name;  (3)  who  were  too  familiar  with 
the  form,  face,  voice,  manner,  life,  etc.,  of  Jesus  to  be  deceived 
by  a  pretender,  if  any  could  have  found  motive  for  practicing 
such  a  deception.  Having  shown  their  folly  in  abandoning 
without  evidence  that  which  they  had  believed  on  competent 
testimony,  the  apostle  turns  to  show  the  consequences  of  their 
act.]  12  Now  if  Christ  is  preached  that  he  hath  been 
raised  from  the  dead,  how  say  some  among  you  that 
there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead?  13  But  if  there 
is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  neither  hath  Christ  been 
raised :   14  and  if  Christ  hath  not  been  raised,  then  is 


AS   TO    THE  RESURRECTION  149 

our  preaching  vain,  your  faith  also  is  vain.  [The  resur- 
rection of  Christ  was  the  very  heart  of  the  gospel,  the  essence 
of  gospel  preaching.  The  Corinthians  had  not  realized  how 
serious  a  matter  it  was  to  admit  the  impossibility  of  any  resur- 
rection. By  so  doing  they  made  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  a 
fiction,  and  if  his  resurrection  was  fictitious,  then  Christian 
preaching  and  Christian  faith  were  both  empty  vanities.  Verily 
the  argument  of  the  rationalists  had  proved  too  much,  -causing 
them  to  deny  the  very  faith  which  they  professed.  The  apostle 
goes  on  to  develop  this  thought,  in  connection  with  another 
thought — the  nature  of  the  issue  between  the  rationalists  and 
Christ's  ministers.  It  was  not  an  issue  of  truth  or  mistake,  but 
of  truth  or  falsehood — a  direct  accusation  that  the  apostles 
and  their  colleagues  were  liars — Acts  2:32;  4:33;  13:30.] 
15  Yea,  and  vv^e  are  found  false  -witnesses  of  God; 
because  we  witnessed  of  God  that  he  raised  up  Christ : 
whom  he  raised  not  up,  if  so  be  that  the  dead  are  not 
raised.  16  For  if  the  dead  are  not  raised,  neither  hath 
Christ  been  raised:  17  and  if  Christ  hath  not  been 
raised,  your  faith  is  vain  ;  ye  are  yet  in  your  sins,  [un- 
justified— Rom.  4:  25.]  18  Then  they  also  that  are  fallen 
asleep  in  Christ  have  perished.  19  If  we  have  only 
hoped  in  Christ  in  this  life,  we  are  of  all  men  most 
pitiable.  [2  Cor.  1:5-9;  11:23-32;  2  Tim.  3:  12.  If,  as  the 
rationalists  affirmed,  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a  resurrection, 
then  Christ  was  not  raised  from  the  dead,  and  if  he  was  not 
raised,  the  apostles  and  others  who  witnessed  as  to  his  resur- 
rection had  borne  false  testimony  as  to  God,  accusing  him  of 
doing  what  he  had  never  done.  They  were  also  false  witnesses 
as  to  the  Corinthians,  having  given  them  a  vain  faith  as  to 
forgiveness  and  eternal  life,  when  in  reality  they  were  yet  in 
their  sins,  and  doomed  to  receive  the  wages  of  sin  which  is 
death.  They  were  also  false  witnesses  as  to  the  dead,  for,  in- 
stead of  falling  asleep  in  Jesus,  the  dead  had  perished.  More- 
over, they  and  other  witnesses  who  had  done  all  this,  were 
wholly  without  excuse ;    for  they  had  made  others  miserable 

without  any  profit  whatever  to  themselves.     If  there  was  no 
11 


150   F/RST  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

resurrection  and  future  reward  for  these  witnesses,  they  must 
have  testified  falsely,  hoping  for  some  gain  in  this  present  life ; 
but  instead  of  such  gain,  these  witnesses  had  drawn  upon  them- 
selves from  every  quarter  such  storms  of  persecution  as  made 
their  lives  most  pitiable — miserable  enough  to  induce  them  to 
abandon  so  profitless  a  falsehood.  The  absolute  self-sacrifice 
of  such  a  life  as  Paul's  can  be  explained  only  by  admitting  that 
he  believed  his  own  testimony,  and  truly  hoped  for  a  resurrec- 
tion and  blessings  in  the  future  state.  At  this  point  he  ceases 
to  be  the  persuasive  logician,  and  speaks  as  the  authoritative, 
inspired  prophet.  Against  the  vain  and  erroneous  reasonings 
of  men  he  places  the  infallible  and  unfailing  revelations  of  the 
Spirit.]  20  But  now  hath  Christ  been  raised  from  the 
dead,  the  firstfruits  of  them  that  are  asleep.  21  For 
since  by  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead.  22  For  as  in  Adam  all  die  [Gen. 
3:  i],  so  also  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.  23  But 
each  in  his  own  order  [literally,  cohort,  regiment,  or  mili- 
tary division]  :  Christ  the  firstfruits ;  then  they  that  are 
Christ's,  at  his  coming.  [After  clearly  reaffirming  his  tes- 
timony to  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  he  goes  on  to  show  the 
comprehensive,  all-inclusive  nature  of  that  resurrection.  This 
he  does  by  appeal  to  Scriptural  figure  and  fact.  On  the  morrow 
after  the  Sabbath  of  the  passover  a  sheaf  of  barley  (the  earliest 
grain  to  ripen)  was  waved  as  firstfruits  before  the  Lord  (Lev. 
23:  9-14).  The  firstfruits  had  to  be  thus  presented  before  the 
harvest  could  be  begun,  and  its  presentation  was  an  earnest 
of  the  ingathering.  Now  on  this  very  day  after  the  Sabbath 
Christ  was  raised  as  the  firstfruits  from  the  dead,  and  became 
the  earnest  of  the  general  resurrection.  Moreover,  that  which 
was  so  clearly  shown  in  the  type  w&s  written  with  equal  clear- 
ness in  the  history.  If  the  justice  of  God  caused  the  death  of 
Adam  to  include  in  its  scope  the  death  of  all,  so  the  mercy  of 
God  had  caused  the  resurrection  of  Christ  to  work  the  contrary 
effect  of  liberating  all  from  the  grave.  But  as  the  firstfruits 
preceded  the  harvest,  so  the  raising  of  Christ  preceded  the 
resurrection  of  the  race.     But  as  the  firstfruits  was  part  of  the 


AS    TO    THE  RESURRECTION  151 

harvest,  so  the  resurrection  of  Christ  is  a  partial  resurrection 
of  all  humanity.  He  must  be  the  Omega  as  well  as  the  Alpha 
of  the  resurrection,  and  must  raise  all  in  whom  his  Spirit 
dwells.  Because  Paul  states  that  there  shall  be  order  in  the 
resurrection,  and  because  he  names  but  two  parties  in  the 
order — Christ  and  his  disciples,  commentators  have  been  de- 
ceived into  thinking  that  there  will  be  a  third  order — the 
wicked.  Thus  they  have  the  anomaly  of  firstfruits  followed 
by  two  harvests.  But  this  is  contradicted  by  the  entire  trend 
of  Scripture,  which  speaks  of  a  resurrection,  and  not  of  resur- 
rections; of  a  harvest  (Matt.  13:  36-43),  and  not  harvests;  and 
which  describes  the  judgment  day  in  terms  which  can  not  be 
reconciled  with  two  separate  resurrections  (Matt.  25:  31-46). 
The  only  apparent  exception  is  the  spiritual  or  figurative  resur- 
rection mentioned  in  the  Apocalypse  (Rev.  20:  4-6).  The  truth 
is  that  in  this  chapter  Paul  is  considering  only  the  resurrection 
of  the  righteous,  and  takes  no  account  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  wicked  at  all,  for  to  have  done  so  would  have  involved  his 
readers  in  endless  confusion.  The  context  clearly  shows  this. 
There  is  but  one  resurrection  day  for  humanity,  and  but  one 
trumpet  to  summon  them  to  arise  and  appear  in  one  common 
hour  of  judgment.  24  Then  cometh  the  end  [the  apostle 
does  not  mean  to  say  that  this  end  comes  immediately  after  the 
resurrection,  but  that  it  is  next  in  order  of  great  events,  so  far 
as  humanity  is  concerned] ,  when  he  shall  deliver  up  the 
kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father  ;  when  he  shall  have 
abolished  all  rule  and  all  authority  and  pow^er.  25  For 
he  must  reign,  till  he  hath  put  all  his  enemies  under 
his  feet.  [Eph.  i:  20-22;  Matt.  28:  18;  i  Pet.  3:  22.]  26  The 
last  enemy  that  shall  be  abolished  is  death.  [2  Tim. 
i:  10;  Heb.  2:  14;  Rev.  20:  14.]  27  For  [saith  the  Psalmist], 
He  put  all  things  in  subjection  under  his  feet.  But 
when  he  saith,  All  things  are  put  in  subjection  [Ps.  8: 6; 
110:1;  2:6-9],  it  is  evident  that  he  [the  Father]  is  ex- 
cepted who  did  subject  all  things  unto  him.  28  And 
when  all  things  have  been  subjected  unto  him,  then 
shall  the  Son  also  himself  be  subjected  to  him  that  did 


152    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

subject  all  things  unto  him,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all. 

[/.  c,  that  God  may  have  all  headship  of  all  creation  ;  complete 
and  absolute  supremacy  (Col.  3:  11),  so  that  "all  things  shall 
say,  'God  is  all  things  to  me'  "  {Bengel).  In  verse  23  the 
apostle,  while  arguing  the  reasonableness  of  the  resurrection, 
is  led  to  mention  its  relation  to  the  end  of  the  world,  but  the 
resurrection  presents  its  reasonableness  in  another  form,  being 
intimately  associated  with  a  higher,  more  transcendent  climax 
than  even  the  termination  of  this  physical  universe ;  for  it  is  an 
essential  preliminary  to  the  culmination  of  Christ's  mediatorial 
kingdom  into  the  kingdom  of  the  Father.  This  culmination 
can  not  take  place  until  the  mediatorial  kingdom  has  attained 
ripened  perfection  through  the  subjugation  of  all  things.  But 
among  the  enemies  to  be  thus  subdued,  death  stands  forth  with 
marked  prominence,  and  the  weapon  which  subdues  him  is, 
and  can  be  no  other  than,  the  resurrection.  Hence  the 
supreme  glorification,  or,  as  it  were,  the  crowning  of  God  as 
all  in  all,  is  predicated  upon  a  resurrection  as  a  condition  prec- 
edent. The  chain  of  Paul's  logic  is  long,  but  it  runs  thus:  no 
glorification  until  the  mediatorial  kingdom  is  turned  over  to 
God;  no  turning  over  of  this  kingdom  until  its  work  is  complete  ; 
no  completion  of  its  work  till  all  its  enemies  are  destroyed;  no 
destruction  of  all  these  enemies  while  death,  a  chief  one,  sur- 
vives; no  destruction  of  death  save  by  the  resurrection  :  there- 
fore no  full  glorification  of  God  without  a  resurrection.  The 
logic  would  hold  good  for  the  doctrine  of  UniversaHsm,  were  it 
not  that  there  is  a  second  death  which  is  not  looked  upon  as 
an  enemy  to  the  kingdom  of  God.]  29  Else  [i.  e.,  if  it  were 
otherwise — if  baptism  were  not  an  all-important  factor  in  God's 
plan]  what  shall  they  do  that  are  baptized  for  [on 
account  of,  with  reference  to.  For  full  discussion  of  this  prep- 
osition see  Canon  Evans'  additional  note,  Speaker's  Com- 
mentary i?i  loco']  the  dead?  If  the  dead  are  not  raised  at 
all,  why  then  are  they  baptized  for  them?  [The  word 
"baptized"  is  an  imperfect  participle,  and  denotes  an  act  being 
continually  performed.  Paul's  question,  then,  is  this:  If  the 
resurrection  is  not  part  of  God's  plan— if  affairs  are  otherwise, 


AS    TO    THE  RESURRECTION  153 

and  there  is  really  no  resurrection — tnen  what  arc  converts  to 
do,  who,  under  the  mistaken  notion  that  there  is  a  resurrection, 
are  now  constantly  presenting  themselves  to  be  buried  in  bap- 
tism on  account  of  the  dead  ?  If  the  dead  are  not  raised,  why 
then  are  these  converts  buried  in  baptism  on  their  account, 
or  with  a  view  to  them?  Rom.  6:  3-1 1  makes  Paul's  meaning 
in  this  passage  very  plain.  The  dead  are  a  class  of  whom 
Christ  is  the  head  and  firstfruits  unto  resurrection.  By  baptism 
we  symbolically  ?^?zz7^, ourselves  with  that  class,  and  so  with 
Christ,  and  we  do  this  because  of  the  hope  that  we  shall  be 
raised  with  that  class  through  the  power  of  Christ  (Rom.  6:  5). 
But  if  the  dead  are  not  raised  at  all,  then  why  should  converts 
be  united  with  them  by  a  symbolic  burial?  why  should  they  be 
baptized  on  their  account,  or  with  reference  to  them?  If  there 
is  no  resurnrection,  baptism,  which  symbolizes  it,  is  meaningless. 
Commentators  belonging  to  churches  which  have  substituted 
sprinkling  for  baptism  make  sad  havoc  of  this  passage.  Hacking 
lost  sight  of  the  symboHc  meaning  of  baptism — that  it  is  a  union 
of  the  convert  with  the  dead,  and  especially  with  the  dead 
and  buried  Christ  as  their  head  and  firstfruits  unto  life — they 
are  at  a  loss  how  to  interpret  the  apostle's  words,  and  in  de- 
spair assert  that  Christians  were  in  the  habit  of  being  baptized 
vicariously  for  their  friends  who  died  without  baptism.  Long 
after  Paul  wrote,  a  similar  misunderstanding  of  this  passage  led 
the  followers  both  of  Marcion  and  Cerenthus  to  practice  such 
vicarious  baptisms  ;  but  the  practice  grew  out  of  PauV s  words, 
instead  of  his  words  being  called  forth  by  the  practice.]  30 
why  do  we  also  stand  in  jeopardy  every  hour?  31  I 
protest  by  that  glorying  in  [concerning]  you,  brethren, 
which  I  have  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  I  die  daily. 
[Rom.  8:  36.]  32  If  after  the  manner  of  men  [as  a 
carnal  man,  having  no  future  hope]  I  fought  with  beasts  at 
Ephesus,  what  doth  it  profit  me  ?  [The  tense  and  words 
indicate  that  Paul  had  become  a  beast-fighter  as  a  settled  occu- 
pation. It  is  conceded  that  his  language  was  figurative,  and 
that  he  spoke  of  contending  with  beasts  in  human  form  (Tit. 
1:12;  2  Tim.  4:  17),  rather  than  to  the  fighting  of  actual  beasts 


154    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

in  the  arena.  Had  Paul  been  thrown  to  the  lions,  Luke  could 
hardly  have  failed  to  mention  it  when  recording  the  events  of 
Paul's  ministry  at  Ephesus.  Moreover,  Paul's  Roman  citizen- 
ship shielded  him  from  such  a  punishment.  But  he  does  not 
refer  to  the  tumult  in  the  theater  (Acts  20:  19),  for  it  took  place 
after  this  letter  was  written.  But  we  may  well  believe  that 
Paul  was  in  daily  danger  in  Ephesus — 2  Cor.  i:  8,  9.]  If  the 
dead  are  not  raised,  let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow 
we  die.  [This  is  an  Epicurean  maxim  which  had  passed  into 
a  proverb.  "If,"  says  South,  ''men  but  persuade  themselves 
that  they  shall  die  like  beasts,  they  soon  will  live  like  beasts 
too."  In  the  three  verses  above,  Paul  passes,  from  the  sym- 
bolic death  of  baptism  to  consider  death  Hterally.  In  the  hope 
of  a  resurrection  he  was  enduring  daily  a  living  death,  his  life 
being  hourly  in  jeopardy.  If  it  was  idle  folly  in  converts  to 
be  symbolically  united  with  the  dead,  much  more  was  it  gross 
foolishness  for  the  apostle  to  live  thus  continually  on  the  verge 
of  being  literally,  actually  united  with  them.  But  the  folly  in 
both  instances  was  made  wisdom  by  the  fact  of  a  resurrection. 
Thus  to  the  arguments  already  adduced  Paul  adds  the  addition- 
al one  that  Christianity,  in  its  initial  ordinance,  and  in  its  daily 
life-experience,  is  built  upon  the  hope  of  a  resurrection.  With- 
out this  hope  no  sensible  man  could  start  to  be  a  Christian, 
much  less  continue  to  live  in  accordance  with  his  profession.] 
33  Be  not  deceived:  Evil  companionships  corrupt 
good  morals.  34  Awake  to  soberness  righteously,  and 
sin  not ;  for  some  have  no  knowledge  of  God :  I  speak 
this  to  move  you  to  shame.  [Do  not  be  deceived  by  free- 
thinkers and  shun  those  who  would  corrupt  the  truth,  for  right 
doctrine  and  right  practice  stand  or  fall  together.  Shake  off, 
therefore,  this  drunken  fit,  and  keep  from  those  sins  in  which 
it  has  tempted  you  to  indulge.  The  sentence  "Evil,"  etc.,  is  a 
quotation  taken  from  the  Greek  poet  Menander.  To  show  the 
full  enormity  of  the  teaching  of  the  rationalists,  Paul  declares 
that  it  is  a  shame  to  the  Corinthians  to  have  such  Christless 
Christians  in  the  church — men  who  have  so  little  knowledge  of 
even  the  power  of  God  as  to  deny  his  ability  to  bring  to  pass 


AS    TO    THE  RESURRECT/ON  155 

so  simple  a  matter  as  the  resurrection.     That  God  gives  life  is 
daily  apparent ;  and  to  give  it  is  infinitely  more  wonderful  than 
to  restore  it.]     35  But  some  one  will  say,  How  are  the 
dead  raised?  and  with  what  manner  of  body  do  they 
come?    36  Thou  foolish  one,  that  which  thou  thyself 
sowest  is  not  quickened  except  it  die  [comp.  John  12: 
24]  :  37  and  that  which  thou  sowest,  thou  sowest  not 
the  body  that  shall  be,  but  a  bare  [naked]  grain,  it  may 
chance  of  wheat,  or  of  some  other  kind ;   38  but  God 
giveth  it  a  body  even  as  it  pleased  him  [guided  by  his 
sense  of  fitness  and  propriety],  and  to  each  seed  a  body  of 
its  own.     [In  this  paragraph  Paul  answers  the  first  question 
of  verse  35.     The  Corinthians,  like  all  materialists,  made  the 
resurrection  a  puzzling  problem.     They  wondered  how  God 
could  restore  a  body  which  returned  to  the  dust,  passed  thence 
into  vegetation,  and  thence  into  the  bodies  of  animals  and  other 
men.     Paul  calls  the  man  who  thus  puzzles  himself  a  foolish 
one,  because  he  denies  that  the  all-powerful  God  can  do  with 
a  human  body  that  which  he  himself  practically  does  annually 
with  the  bodies  (grains)  of  wheat,  etc.,  by  merely  availing  him- 
self of  the  common  course  of  nature.     When  he  sows  a  grain 
of  wheat  he  does  not  expect  it  to  come  up  a  naked  grain  as  he 
sowed  it,  but  he  knows  that  it  will  die,  and  in  its  death  produce 
another  body,  consisting  of  stalk,  blade,  head  and  other  grains 
similar  to  the  one  sown.     He  knows  that  though  the  body  thus 
produced  bear  small  outward  resemblance  to  the  single  grain 
planted,  yet  it  is  the  product  of  the  grain's  germinal  life,  and 
on   examination  can  be  absolutely  demonstrated  to  be  such. 
Moreover,  by  doing  this  same  thing  with  corn,  oats  and  other 
grain   he   finds  that  each  produces  a  body  of  its  own   kind, 
adapted  by  the  wisdom  of  God  to  its  needs.     With  all  this 
before  him,  how  foolish  in  man  to  deny  that  God  can  cause 
the  dead  body  to  rise  in  a  higher  and  nobler  form,  and  that  he 
can  also  cause  each  man  to  have  a  resurrected  body  true  to  his 
individuality,  so  that  Smith  shall  no  more  rise  in  the  likeness  of 
Jones  than  corn  come  up  after  the  similitude  of  oats.     But  the 
analogy  taught  by  nature  is  true  in  another  respect;  i.  e,,  the 


156    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE   CORINTHIANS       ' 

body  produced  by  the  seed  is  greater  and  more  excellent  than 
the  seed.  Paul  enlarges  and  applies  this  thought.]  39  All 
flesh  is  not  the  same  flesh :  but  there  is  one  flesh  of 
men,  and  another  flesh  of  beasts,  and  another  flesh  of 
birds,  and  another  of  fishes.  40  There  are  also  celes- 
tial bodies,  and  bodies  terrestrial :  but  the  glory  of  the 
celestial  is  one,  and  the  glory  of  the  terrestrial  is 
another.  41  There  is  one  glory  of  the  sun,  and  another 
glory  of  the  moon,  and  another  glory  of  the  stars  ;  for 
one  star  differeth  from  another  star  in  glory.  42  So 
also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  [Here  the  apostle 
answers  the  second  question  of  verse  35.  If  a  man  rises  from 
the  dead  changed  as  the  grain  of  wheat  is  changed,  will  he  not 
have  a  different  body,  and  so  lose  his  identity  ?  Will  he  not 
cease  to  be  man  ?  Paul  gives  a  threefold  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion. He  shows  that  there  may  be  diversity,  and  yet  a  common 
ground  of  identity.  There  are  diverse  forms  of  flesh,  yet  all  these 
forms  are  flesh;  there  may  be  different  forms  of  bodies  having 
different  glories,  yet  are  they  all  bodies ;  yea,  even  the  flories 
may  differ  in  luster  and  yet  may  have  common  identity  as  glory. 
Thus  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  The  flesh  is  changed, 
and  yet  it  is  in  a  sense  flesh— humanity  ;  there  may  be  modifica- 
tions in  the  form,  and  yet  it  will  be  the  same  body.  There  may 
be  great  changes  in  the  glory,  yet  the  glory  will  still  be  glory, 
and  not  essentially  different.  Thus  man  may  still  be  man,  and 
yet  be  vastly  improved.  In  this  part  of  the  argument  Paul  is 
correcting  a  cardinal  error  in  Greek  thought.  They  stumbled 
at  the  doctrine  of  a  resurrection,  because  they  regarded  the 
body  as  a  clog  to  the  soul ;  and  so  the  body  might  indeed  be,  if 
God  could  form  but  one  kind  of  body.  But  he  can  form  celes- 
tial as  well  as  terrestrial  bodies,  and  spiritual  bodies  adapted  to 
the  needs  of  the  spirit,  which  will  not  hinder  it  as  does  this 
earthly  tabernacle  which  it  now  inhabits — bodies  which  will 
not  only  prove  no  disadvantage,  but  of  infinite  assistance,  be- 
cause answering  every  requirement.  This  truth  is  now  further 
exemplified.]  It  is  sown  in  corruption  [Eccl.  12:  7] ;  it 
is  raised  in  incorruption  [Luke  20:  35,  36]  :  43  it  is  sown 


AS    TO    THE  RESURRECTION  157 

in  dishonor  [buried  because  it  is  repulsive  and  will  become 
offensive— John  ii:  39]  ;  it  is  raised  in  glory  [Phil.  3:  21]  : 
it  is  sown  in  weakness  [devoid  of  all  ability]  ;  it  is  raised 
in  power  [Rev.  3:  21]  :  44  it  is  sown  a  natural  body ;  it 
is  raised  a  spiritual  body.  If  there  is  a  natural  body, 
there  is  also  a  spiritual  body.  [This  power  of  God  to 
preserve  identity  in  diversity  works  out  glorious  results  for  man. 
Our  earthly  body,  when  planted  in  death,  will  indeed  bring 
forth  after  its  kind,  but  God,  in  the  fullness  of  his  power  and 
grace,  shall  cause  it  to  lay  aside  its  terrestrial  glory,  and  assume 
the  celestial.  The  nature  of  the  change  thus  effected  is  illus- 
trated by  four  contrasts,  the  corruption,  dishonor,  weakness 
and  animal  nature  of  the  terrestrial  body  being  laid  aside  for 
the  incorruptible,  glorious,  powerful  and  spiritual  body  of  the 
celestial  world.  If  man  owns  a  natural,  or  psychical,  body, 
i.  e.,  a  body  which  is  sustained  and  operated  by  his  lower  or 
soul-life,  and  suited  to  this  world  of  death ;  so  he  also  owns  a 
spiritual  body,  suited  to  the  desires,  motions  and  operations 
of  the  spirit  and  eternal  life ;  a  body  wherein  the  soul  takes 
its  proper  position  of  subordination  to  the  spirit,  according  to 
God's  original  plan  and  purpose  when  he  created  man  in  his 
image.  Paul  says  ''is,"  for  such  a  body  already  exists,  and  is 
occupied  by  Christ  our  head— Rev.  i:  18.]  45  So  also  it  is 
written  [Gen.  2:  7],  The  first  man  Adam  became  a  living 
soul.  The  last  Adam  became  a  life-giving  spirit.  46 
Howbeit  that  is  not  first  which  is  spiritual,  but  that 
which  is  natural;  then  that  which  is  spiritual.  47 
The  first  man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy:  the  second  man 
is  of  heaven.  48  As  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they  also 
that  are  earthy :  and  as  is  the  heavenly,  such  are  they 
also  that  are  heavenly.  49  And  as  we  have  borne  the 
image  of  the  earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of 
the  heavenly.  [Here  the  two  heads  of  humanity  are  con- 
trasted. Adam  was  a  quickening  soul,  and  Christ  a  quickening 
spirit  (comp.  Gen.  2:  7,  and  John  20:  22.  See  also  2  Cor.  3: 
17;  Rom.  8:2,  11;  John  7:38,  39).  But  of  these  two  heads 
the  natural  came  first.     We  are  Adam's  by  generation,  and 


158    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

Christ's  by  regeneration.  The  life  principle  of  Adam  is  soul, 
and  he  was  formed  of  the  earth:  the  life  principle  of  Christ 
is  spiritual.  He  was  in  heaven  (John  i:  i)  and  from  thence 
entered  the  world  and  became  flesh  (John  1:14;  3:13,  21; 
Phil.  2:  6-8;  John  i:  1-3  ;  Luke  i:  35).  Now,  as  the  two  heads 
differ,  so  do  the  two  families,  and  each  resembles  its  head  ; 
the  earthly  progeny  of  Adam  having  earthly  natures,  and  the 
spiritual  progeny  of  Christ  having  spiritual  and  heavenly  natures. 
But  in  both  families  the  earthly  nature  comes  first,  and  the 
spiritual  children  wait  for  their  manifestation,  which  is  the 
very  thing  about  which  the  apostle  has  been  talking,  for  it 
comes  when  they  are  raised  from  the  dead  (Rom.  8:  29  ;  i  John 
3:  2  ;  Rom.  8:  22,  23  ;  2  Cor.  ,5:  i-io).  Life  is  not  retrogression, 
but  ascension.  Therefore  he  assures  them  that  as  they  have 
borne  the  image  of  the  earthly  Adam,  so  also  are  they  to 
bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly  Christ,  both  of  whom  have  the 
bodies  of  men,  yet  bodies  differing  vastly  in  glory,  power,  etc., 
for  one  belongs  to  the  earth,  dies  and  returns  to  it,  while  the 
other  belongs  to  the  deathless  heaven  and  forever  abides 
there.]  50  Now  this  I  say,  brethren,  that  flesh  and 
blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God ;  neither  doth 
corruption  inherit  incorruption.  [i  Pet.  1:4.]  51  Be- 
hold, I  tell  you  a  mystery  [a  secret  not  previously  re- 
vealed] :  We  all  shall  not  sleep  [die],  but  we  shall  all 
be  changed,  52  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye,  at  the  last  trump  :  for  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and 
the  dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible,  and  we  shall  be 
changed.  53  For  this  corruptible  must  put  on  incor- 
ruption, and  this  mortal  must  put  on  immortality. 
[Man  in  his  fleshly  nature  has  no  place  in  heaven,  for  cor- 
ruption is  antagonistic  to  incorruption,  as  light  is  to  darkness. 
It  is  essential,  therefore,  that  man  must  put  off  the  corruption 
of  Adam  and  the  natural  body  of  Adam,  and  assume  the  in- 
corruptible, spiritual  body  of  Christ,  before  he  can  en.ter  upon 
his  celestial  inheritance.  Those  who  are  alive  at  Christ's 
coming  shall  not  escape  this  necessary  change.  If  the  dead 
are  changed  by  resurrection  (verses  42,  43),  the  living  shall 


AS    TO    THE  RESURRECTION  159 

also  be  changed  by  transfiguration ;  but  both  shall  be  changed, 
and  the  change  in  each  shall  take  place  at  the  same  moment; 
i.  e.,  when  the  trumpet  shall  summon  all  to  appear  before  God 
—  I  Thess.  4:6.]  54  But  when  this  corruptible  shall 
have  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  shall  have 
put  on  immortality,  then  shall  come  to  pass  the  saying 
that  is  written  [Isa.  25:8],  Death  is  swallowed  up  in 
victory.  [When  the  natural  body  shall  be  transformed  into 
the  spiritual,  then  shall  be  fulfilled  that  prophecy  which  de- 
scribes death — the  one  who  has  swallowed  up  the  human  race, 
as  being  himself  swallowed  up  in  victory.]  55  O  death, 
w^here  is  thy  victory?  O  death,  w^here  is  thy  sting? 
[This  passage  is  quoted  loosely  from  Hos.  13:  14.  Warmed  by 
the  glow  and  glory  of  his  argument,  the  apostle  bursts  forth- 
in  this  strain  of  triumphant  exultation,  which  has  wakened  a 
corresponding  thrill  in  the  heart  of  the  Christian,  and  has  been 
a  solace  and  comfort  to  the  church  through  all  subsequent 
centuries.]  56  The  sting  of  death  is  sin  [Rom.  6:  23]  ; 
and  the  power  of  sin  is  the  law  [Rom.  4:  15  ;  7: 10-12]  : 
57  but  thanks  be  to  God  [Ps.  98:  i],  who  giveth  us  the 
victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  [Death  is  here 
spoken  of  under  the  figure  of  a  serpent.  Sin  is  the  bite  or 
sting  with  which  he  slays  men,  and  the  power  or  poisonous 
strength  of  sin  is  found  in  the  curse  which  the  law  pronounces 
upon  the  sinner.  By  the  triple  power  of  law,  sin  and  death, 
the  glory  of  man  was  brought  to  nought ;  but  thanks  are  due 
to  God,  who  restored  glory  to  man  through  Jesus  Christ.  Christ 
gave  man  the  victory  over  the  law,  for  he  nailed  it  to  his  cross 
(Col.  2:14);  he  gave  him  victory  over  sin,  for  he  made  atone- 
ment for  sin  (Heb.  7:  27) ;  and  he  gave  him  victory  over  death 
by  his  resurrection,  which  is  the  earnest  of  the  general  resur- 
rection. Wonderful  threefold  victory !]  58  Wherefore,  my 
beloved  brethren,  be  ye  stedfast,  unmovable,  always 
abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye 
know  that  your  labor  is  not  vain  in  the  Lord.  [There- 
fore, since  you  see  that  the  dead  are  raised  and  made  capable 
of  enjoying  heaven,  do  not  again  be  moved  from  your  belief  in 


160    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

these  well-proven  and  established  truths,  and  be  careful  to 
abound  in  the  Lord's  work,  for  no  matter  what  your  present 
sufferings  and  persecutions  may  be,  the  Lord  will  amply  reward 
you  in  the  resurrection,  and  your  labor  will  not  be  in  vain.] 


XIII. 

CONCERNING  THE  COLLECTION,  PERSONAL  MAT- 
TERS, SALUTATIONS  AND  BENEDICTION. 

i6:  1-24. 

The  fraternal  communism  of  the  Jerusalem  church  (Acts 
2:44,  45;  4:  36,  37;  5:  i),  together  with  the  political  troubles, 
famines  (Acts  11:28-30)  and  persecutions  (Acts  8:1-4),  all 
tended  to  impoverish  the  church  in  Jud^a.  To  relieve  this 
poverty  and  to  bring  about  a  more  cordial  feeling  between 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  Paul  had  set  about  gathering  an  offering  in 
the  Gentile  churches  for  the  brethren  in  Judaea.  The  church 
at  Corinth  had  consented  to  make  such  offering,  but  had  been 
hindered  by  their  factions,  or  some  other  cause,  from  so  doing. 
In  this  chapter  Paul  requests  them  to  begin  taking  this  offer- 
ing at  once.  He  also  speaks  of  the  reasons  why  he  had  post- 
poned his  visit,  tells  them  when  they  may  expect  him,  and  treats 
of  some  other  lesser  matters.]  1  Now  concerning  the  col- 
lection for  the  saints  [Christians],  as  I  gave  order  to 
the  churches  of  Galatia,  so  also  do  ye.  [Very  probably 
he  had  ordered,  or  arranged  for,  this  collection  on  the  journey 
mentioned  at  Acts  16:  6,  and  he  probably  collected  it  on  that 
mentioned  at  Acts  18:  23.  "Paul,"  says  Bengel,  "holds  up  as 
an  example  to  the  Corinthians  the  Galatians,  to  the  Macedo- 
nians the  Corinthians  (2  Cor.  g:  2),  and  to  the  Romans  the 
Macedonians  and  Corinthians  (Rom.  15:  26) :  great  is  the  force 
of  example."  For  other  references  to  this  collection,  see  Acts 
11:  29,  30 ;  24:  17 ;  2  Cor.  8:  i,  2.]  2  Upon  the  first  day  of 
the  week  let  each  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as 
he  may  prosper,  that  no  collections  be  made  when  I 


CONCERNING    THE   COLLECTION,  ETC.     161 

come.  [The  word  "thesaurizoo?i,"  translated  *'in  store," 
means,  literally,  "put  into  the  treasury;"  and  the  phrase  ''par' 
heauto,"  translated  "by  him,"  may  be  taken  as  the  neuter  re- 
flexive pronoun,  and  may  be  rendered  with  equal  correctness 
'''by  itself."  Macknight  thus  renders  these  two  words,  and 
this  rendering  is  to  be  preferred.  If  each  man  had  laid  by  in 
his  own  house,  all  these  scattered  collections  would  have  had  to 
be  gathered  after  Paul's  arrival,  which  was  the  very  thing 
that  he  forbade.  Again,  had  the  collection  been  of  such  a 
private  nature,  it  would  have  been  gathered  normally  at  the 
end  instead  of  at  the  beginning  of  the  week.  But  the  first 
day  of  the  week  was  evidently  set  apart  for  public  worship 
(John  20:  19-26;  Acts  20:  7;  Rev.  i:  10),  and  this  offering  was 
part  of  the  service.  It  was  put  in  the  public  treasury  of  the 
church,  but  kept  by  itself  as  a  separate  huid.  The  translation 
of  the  Revised  Version  is  unfortunate,  as  it  obscures  the  idea 
of  the  weekly  service  of  the  church.  According  to  Paul's 
method  of  collecting,  each  rendered  a  weekly  account  of  his 
stewardship,  and  gave  more  and  felt  it  less  than  if  he  had  at- 
tempted to  donate  it  all  at  one  time.  Paul  had  promised  to 
take  such  offerings  (Gal.  2:  10).  As  a  Christian  he  tries  to 
relieve  that  distress  which,  as  a  persecutor,  he  had  aided  to 
inflict  (Acts  26:  6-10).  He  wished  each  one,  rich  or  poor,  to 
contribute  to  the  offering,  and  he  wanted  the  whole  matter 
disposed  of  and  out  of  the  way  when  he  came,  that  he  might 
turn  his  attention  to  more  important  matters.]  3  And  when 
I  arrive,  w^homsoever  ye  shall  approve,  them  "will  I 
send  "with  letters  to  carry  your  bounty  unto  Jerusalem  : 
4  and  if  it  be  meet  for  me  to  go  also,  they  shall  go 
with  me.  [Paul  does  not  ask  to  be  made  custodian  of  the 
offering.  He  directs  the  church  to  appoint  its  own  messengers 
to  carry  it,  thus  raising  himself  above  all  suspicion  of  misap- 
propriation, and  giving  the  church  a  new  incentive  to  make  a 
liberal  offering,  for  it  would  afford  the  church  a  new  joy  and 
profit  to  have  in  its  membership  those  who  had  been  to  Jeru- 
salem and  seen  the  apostles.  Paul,  as  an  apostle,  and  as  one 
personally  acquainted  with  the  Jerusalem  church,  promises  to 


162    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

give  the  bearers  of  the  fund  letters  of  introduction  and  com- 
mendation to  the  apostles  and  elders  at  Jerusalem ;  and,  should 
the  greatness  of  the  collection  and  the  dignity  of  the  occasion 
require  it,  he  agrees  to  accompany  the  bounty  himself.  The 
collection  proved  large  enough  to  justify  this,  and  Paul  ac- 
companied the  delegates.  For  the  names  of  those  who  left 
Greece  with  Paul,  see  Acts  20:  4.]  5  But  I  will  come  unto 
you,  when  I  shall  have  passed  through  Macedonia  ; 
for  I  [purpose  to]  pass  through  Macedonia;  6  but  with 
you  it  may  be  that  I  shall  abide,  or  even  winter,  that 
ye  may  set  me  forward  on  my  journey  whithersoever 
I  go.  7  For  I  do  not  wish  to  see  you  now  by  the  way 
[merely  as  I  pass  through]  ;  for  I  hope  to  tarry  a  w^hile 
with  you,  if  the  Lord  permit.  [Jas.  4:  15 ;  Acts  18:  i  ; 
Heb.  6:  3  ;  ch.  4:  19.]  8  But  I  will  tarry  at  Ephesus  un- 
til Pentecost ;  9  for  a  great  door  [the  common  metaphor 
expressing  opportunity  (Acts  14:  27;  2  Cor.  2:  12;  Col.  4:3; 
Rev.  3:8;  Hos.  2:  15]  and  effectual  is  opened  unto  me, 
and  there  are  many  adversaries.  [For  this  success  and 
the  adversaries  which  it  aroused  see  Acts  19:  1-20.  For  the 
riot  which  it  afterwards  stirred  up  see  Acts  19:  23-41.  From 
this  paragraph  it  appears  that  it  had  been  Paul's  plan  to  visit 
Corinth,  going  thither  from  Ephesus  by  direct  course  across 
the  y^gean  Sea;  and  after  a  brief  sojourn  there  to  pass  up  into 
Macedonia,  and  visit  Corinth  again  on  the  return.  This  plan 
he  evidently  communicated  to  the  Corinthians  in  that  first 
epistle  which  is  lost  (ch.  5:  9).  But  the  evil  reports  which  came 
to  him  concerning  the  conduct  of  the  Corinthian  church  caused 
him  to  change  his  purpose,  and  delay  his  visit,  that  they  might 
have  time  to  repent,  and  so  escape  the  severe  correction  which 
he  would  otherwise  have  felt  constrained  to  administer  to  them 
(2  Cor.  i:  23;  2:  i).  Moreover,  he  reversed  his  route;  coming 
by  Macedonia  (Acts  19:  21,  22),  and  intending  to  depart  by  sea 
(Acts  20:  3).  To  help  bring  about  a  state  of  repentance,  he 
sent  Timothy  as  a  forerunner  (ch.  4:  16-21),  and  sent  him  by 
way  of  Macedonia  (Acts  19:  22).  He  now  writes  that  he  has 
thus  altered  his  plans,  and  that  he  is  coming  through  Mace- 


CONCERNING   THE    COLLECTION,  ETC.     163 

donia,  and  that  he  will  not  pay  them  two  cursory  visits,  but  will 
make  them  one  long  one,  and  probably  stay  all  winter.  How- 
ever, he  will  not  begin  this  journey  until  after  Pentecost,  for 
the  work  in  Ephesus  has  become  so  fruitful  as  to  demand  at 
present  all  his  attention.  Paul  carried  out  his  plan  as  here 
outlined  (2  Cor.  2:  13;  8:  i ;  9:  2,  4  ;  12:  14;  13:  i ;  Acts  20:  3-6). 
He  suggests  their  forwarding  him  on  his  journey,  thus  showing 
his  confidence  in  them,  that  they  would  give  him  this  customary 
proof  of  affection  (Rom.  15:  24 ;  Acts  15:  3 ;  17:  15  ;  Tit.  3:  13) ; 
but  intimates,  by  using  "whithersoever,"  that  his  course  beyond 
them  is  uncertain.  We  find  later  that  he  was  compelled  to 
change  his  plan — Acts  20:  3.]  10  Now  if  Timothy  come, 
see  that  he  be  with  you  without  fear ;  for  he  worketh 
the  work  of  the  Lord,  as  I  also  do  [ch.  14:  17]  :  11  let 
no  man  therefore  despise  him  [i  Tim.  4:  12].  But  set 
him  forward  on  his  journey  in  peace,  that  he  may  come 
unto  me  :  for  I  expect  him  with  the  brethren.  [Timothy, 
as  we  have  seen,  went  the  long  route  by  way  of  Macedonia, 
no  doubt  visiting  the  churches  as  he  journeyed.  Soon  after  his 
departure  the  messengers  from  Corin-th  arrived,  bringing  the 
letter  from  that  church,  and  Paul  sends  this  answer  to  it  by 
Titus.  Now,  Titus  was  evidently  despatched  by  the  short  route 
across  the  sea,  with  instructions  to  return  by  way  of  Macedonia. 
Therefore  Paul  uses  "if,"  for  he  supposes  that  Titus  may  reach 
Corinth,  discharge  his  errand,  start  through  Macedonia,  and 
there  intercept  Timothy  so  as  to  prevent  his  ever  reaching 
Corinth.  And  this  very  thing  seems  to  have  happened,  for 
Titus  and  Timothy,  returning,  evidently  met  Paul  at  Philippi, 
where  he  wrote  his  second  Corinthian  letter  (2  Cor.  1:1);  yet 
only  Titus  is  spoken  of  as  having  brought  any  report  of  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  at  Corinth  (2  Cor.  7:  6,  7).  The  Corinthians, 
therefore,  had  no  chance  to  show  their  love  for  Paul  by  their 
welcome  of  Timothy.  Paul's  words  with  regard  to  him  remind 
us  that  he  was  at  that  time  a  young  man  and  liable  to  be  in- 
timidated by  the  factious,  arrogant  spirit  of  the  Corinthians. 
Timothy  seems  to  have  been  of  a  diffident  and  sensitive  nature 
(i  Tim.  5:21-23;  2  Tim.  1:6-8).     Paul  warns  them  that  any 


164    FIRST  EPISTLE   TO    THE   CORINTHIANS 

unkindness  shown  to  this  young  man  will  soon  be  reported  to 
him,  for  he  expects  Timothy  to  return  with  Titus,  Erastus  and 
those  with  them— Acts  19:22;  2  Cor.  12:17,  18;  8:18,  23.] 
12  But  as  touching  Apollos  the  brother,  I  besought 
him  much  to  come  unto  you  with  the  brethren  [with 
Titus,  etc.]  :  and  it  was  not  at  all  his  will  to  come  now; 
but  he  will  come  when  he  shall  have  opportunity. 
[Apollos  first  comes  to  our  notice  at  Ephesus  (Acts  18:  24-28), 
whence  he  went  to  Corinth  just  before  Paul  came  to  Ephesus 
(Acts  19:  i).  From  Corinth  Apollos  returned  to  and  was  now 
at  Ephesus.  The  old  Latin  commentators  say  that  he  left 
Corinth  on  account  of  the  violence  of  the  factions,  and  now 
declined  to  return  because  of  them,  but  it  is  not  likely  that 
they  knew  anything  more  about  the  facts  than  we  do.  Jerome 
tells  us  that  after  the  factious  spirit  subsided,  Apollos  returned 
to  Corinth,  and  became  bishop  or  elder  of  the  church  ;  but  he 
gives  us  no  authority  for  his  statement.  Paul's  words  are  im- 
portant, because  they  show  that  neither  he  nor  Apollos  gave 
any  countenance  or  encouragement  to  the  factions.  Paul  has 
no  fear  that  Apollos  will  do  wrong  intentionally,  yet  Apollos 
fears  that  he  may  do  wrong  by  his  presence  unintentionally. 
It  did  not  seem  to  Apollos  that  it  was  a  fit  season  for  him  to 
show  himself  in  Corinth.]  13  Watch  ye,  stand  fast  in  the 
faith,  quit  you  like  men,  be  strong.  14  Let  all  that  ye 
do  be  done  in  love.  [In  these  brief,  nervous  phrases,  Paul 
sums  up  the  burden  of  his  entire  Epistle.  The  Corinthians 
were  to  be  wakeful  and  not  asleep  (ch.  11:  30;  15:  33).  They 
were  to  be  steadfast,  manly  and  strong  (ch.  15:2,  58);  they 
were  to  do  all  things  in  love  (chs.  7,  8,  10,  11,  12  and  14), 
not  show  their  lack  of  love  in  bringing  lawsuits,  wrangling 
about  marriage,  eating  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  behaving 
selfishly  at  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  vaunting  themselves  on 
account  of  their  gifts.]  15  Now  I  beseech  you,  breth- 
ren (ye  know  the  house  of  Stephanas,  that  it  is  the 
firstfruits  of  Achaia  [z.  e.,  my  first  converts  in  Greece — ch. 
i:  16],  and  that  they  have  set  themselves  to  minister 
unto  the  saints),  16  that  ye  also  be  in  subjection  unto 


CONCERNING    THE   COLLECTION,  ETC.     165 

such,  and  to  every  one  that  helpeth  in  the  work  and 
laboreth.  [The  apostle  asks  the  Corinthians  to  be  subject  to 
their  truly  religious  teachers,  and  picks  out  the  family  of 
Stephanas  as  a  sample.  This  family  was  the  first  converted, 
and,  consequently,  probably  the  best  instructed  in  the  church.] 
17  And  I  rejoice  at  the  coming  of  Stephanas  and  For- 
tunatus  and  Achaicus  :  for  that  which  w^as  lacking  on 
your  part  they  supplied.  18  For  they  refreshed  my 
spirit  and  yours  :  acknowledge  ye  therefore  them  that 
are  such.  [These  were  the  messengers  which  bore  the  Co- 
rinthian letter  to  Paul.  Of  them  we  know  nothing  more. 
What  Paul  says  of  them  here  was  probably  written  to  keep  the 
Corinthians  from  showing  resentment  toward  them  for  having 
told  him  the  sad  condition  of  the  church.  The  thought  seems 
to  be  that  they  refreshed  the  apostle  by  partially  filling  the  void 
caused  by  the  absence  of  the  Corinthians,  and  they  caused  Paul 
to  refresh  the  church  at  Corinth  both  by  receiving  personal  mes- 
sages from  him,  and  causing  him  to  write  the  letter.  He  asks 
that  they  be  received  as  a  refreshment  from  him,  just  as  he  had 
received  them  as  such  from  them.]  19  The  churches  of  Asia 
salute  you.  [These  were  the  churches  in  the  Roman  province 
of  Asia,  of  which  Ephesus  was  the  capital.  Seven  churches 
of  this  province  are  mentioned  in  the  opening  chapters  of  the 
Book  of  Revelation.  They  were  in  the  western  coast  lands  of 
Asia  Minor.]  Aquila  and  Prisca  salute  you  much  in 
the  Lord,  with  the  church  that  is  in  their  house.  [This 
devoted  couple  had  been  with  Paul  in  Corinth,  and  were  now 
in  Ephesus  (Acts  i8:  i,  2,  i8,  26.  Soon  after  we  find  them  in 
Rome  (Rom.  16:  3),  where  they  also  had,  as  here,  a  church  in 
their  house  (Rom.  16:  5).  It  was  yet  a  day  of  small  congrega- 
tions, worshiping  in  private  houses — Rom.  16:  4,  15  ;  Col.  4:  15  ; 
Philem.  2.]  20  All  the  brethren  [in  Ephesus]  salute  you. 
Salute  one  another  with  a  holy  kiss.  [See  commentary  on 
Thessalonians,  page  27.  "He  rightly  enjoins  the  kiss  of  peace 
upon  those  who  were  in  danger  of  being  rent  to  pieces  by 
schisms."— (;r(?/z«5.]    21  The  salutation  of  me  Paul  with 

mine  own  hand.    [All  of  Paul's  letters  save  Galatians  appear 
12 


166    FIRST  EPISTLE    TO    THE  CORINTHIANS 

to  have  been  written  by  an  amanuensis  (Gal.  6:  ii).  Inspired 
Scripture  was  too  important  to  be  wanting  in  authenticity,  or  to 
be  subjected  to  suspicion  as  forgery.]  22  If  any  man  loveth 
not  the  Lord,  let  him  be  anathema.  Marana  tha. 
[Literally,  "Let  him  be  devoted  to  destruction.  O  Lord,  come!" 
They  were  the  words  with  which  the  Jews  began  their  greatest 
excommunication.  Here  Paul  pronounces  a  curse  against  the 
man  who,  professing  to  be  a  Christian,  had  really  no  love  for 
Christ.  Though  the  church  can  not  always  detect  and  punish 
such,  yet  the  Lord  at  his  coming  will  find  them  out.  This, 
therefore,  is  Paul's  appeal  to  the  Lord  to  do  this  thing,  and  he 
writes  the  words  with,  his  own  hand  to  show  how  seriously  he 
meant  them.  For  use  of  the  word  "anathema,"  see  Acts  12:  2  ; 
23:  14;  Rom.  9:  3  ;  Gal.  i:  8,  9.]  23  The  grace  [the  reverse 
of  the  anathema]  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you. 
24  My  love  be  with  you  all  in  Christ  Jesus.  Amen. 
[The  apostle  closes  with  this  thought,  lest  any  should  miscon- 
strue his  letter.  Though  it  contained  severe  rebukes,  it  was 
dictated  by  love,  and  not  by  hatred.] 


INTRODUCTION  167 


SECOND    EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORIN- 
THIANS, 

INTRODUCTION. 

Having  despatched  his  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  by 
their  returning  messengers  (i  Cor.  i6:  ^y,  i8),  and  having,  as 
it  appears,  sent  Titus  with  them  as  his  own  messenger  (comp. 
I  Cor.  i6:  I,  2  and  2  Cor.  8:6),  Paul  became  exceedingly 
anxious  as  to  the  effect  which  his  letter  would  have,  and,  to 
get  earlier  news  from  it,  he  advanced  from  Ephesus  to  the 
seacoast  at  Troas,  where  he  expected  to  meet  Titus.  But  when 
Titus  did  not  come,  though  Paul  found  "a  door  opened  to  him" 
in  Troas,  his  spirits  were  so  intolerably  oppressed  by  forebod- 
ings of  evil  as  to  the  situation  at  Corinth,  that  he  crossed  over 
the  sea  into  Macedonia  to  learn  what  had  occurred  there. 
Here,  possibly  at  Philippi,  he  meets  with  Titus,  and  this  second 
Epistle  is  called  forth  by  the  report  which  Titus  brought  (2:  12, 
13 ;  7-  5-7)-  The  first  Epistle  was  written  from  Ephesus  in  the 
spring  of  A.  D.  57,  and  this  one  from  Macedonia,  probably  in 
September  or  October  of  the  same  year.  It  shows  that  Titus 
reported  that  the  majority  of  the  church  was  with  Paul,  ac- 
cepted him  as  an  apostle,  read  his  message  with  fear  and 
trembling,  received  his  rebukes  with  grief,  and  sought  to  obey 
his  instructions  with  holy  zeal,  promptly  excommunicating  the 
incestuous  man  (7:  7-14).  But  there  was  still  a  dangerous  and 
defiant  minority  for  Paul  to  subdue,  an  evil  influence  for  him 
to  break  down,  and  this  second  Epistle  is  written  because  of 
this  party.  This  minority,  which  existed  when  the  first  Epistle 
was  written,  had  apparently  been  re-enforced  by  Judaizers,  who 
came  from  Jerusalem  bearing  what  purported  to  be  letters  of 
commendation  from  some  high  authority.  This  minority  de- 
nounced Paul  with  unscrupulous  boldness.  They  accused  him 
of  cowardice^  in  that  he  had  not  come  to  Corinth,  insinuating 


168  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

that  he  preferred  to  keep  at  a  distance  and  thunder  in  his 
letters,  because  he  knew  that  he  was  weak  and  contemptible  if 
present.  With  wanton  brazenness  they  struck  at  his  apostolic 
authority,  asserting  that  he  had  no  authentic  commission,  and 
not  even  commendatory  letters  from  Jerusalem.  They  accused 
him  of  lying  in  regard  to  his  journeys  and  visits,  and  being  so 
vacillating  in  his  statements  and  purposes  as  to  be  wholly  un- 
trustworthy." These,  and  other  charges  and  innuendoes,  were  so 
bold  in  their  character,  so  gross  in  their  nature  and  so  dan- 
gerous in  their  significance  that,  for  the  good  of  the  cause, 
Paul  felt  impelled  to  write  this  defense.  Being  strongly 
emotional  from  end  to  end,  it  is  in  style  the  most  difficult  of  all 
Paul's  Epistles,  and  it  is  also  the  least  systematic;  but  the  fol- 
lowing analysis  is  fairly  satisfactory.  Part  I.  The  maintenance 
of  his  genuine  apostleship  (chs.  1-7).  This  part  is  addressed 
more  particularly  to  that  section  of  the  church  which  was  loyal, 
or  even  friendly,  in  its  attitude  toward  him.  It  is  divisible  into 
two  subdivisions:  (i)  Defense  against  the  charge  of  being  un- 
reliable because  he  had  changed  his  plans  as  to  the  time  and 
direction  of  his  journey  to  visit  them,  and  had  apparently  con- 
tradicted himself  (chs.  i,  2).  (2)  A  discussion  of  his  apostolic 
office  (chs.  3-7).  Part  II.  Exhortations  as  to  the  offerings  for  the 
Judsean  poor  (chs.  8,  9).  Part  III.  A  measurement  of  his  life, 
powers,  ability,  etc.,  with  those  who  opposed  and  defamed  him 
(chs.  10-13).  This  part  is  addressed  more  particularly  to  those 
who  held  him  in  doubt,  and  those  who  openly  defied  him,  and 
may  be  subdivided  as  follows:  (i)  Preliminary  suggestions  as 
to  the  measurement  (ch.  lo-ii:  21).  (2)  The  measurement  in 
detail  (ch.  11:22-13).  The  Epistle  differs  very  greatly  in  its 
tone,  passing  from  the  warmest  affection  to  the  most  startling 
menace,  because  the  apostle  is  sometimes  addressing  the  peni- 
tent majority,  and  som.etimes  the  refractory  minority. 


THANKS  FOR    COMFORT,  ETC.  169 


SECOND    EPISTLE    TO    THE    CORIN- 
THIANS. 

PART   FIRST. 

PAUL'S    MAINTENANCE    OF    HIS    APOSTLE- 
SHIP. 

CHS.    1-7. 


THANKS   FOR   COMFORT.      DEFENSE   AS   TO 
CHANGE    OF    PLANS. 

i:  1-22. 

I  Paul,  an  apostle  of  Christ  Jesus  through  the  will  of 
God,  and  Timothy  our  brother,  unto  the  church  of  God 
which  is  at  Corinth,  w^ith  all  the  saints  that  are  in  the 
whole  of  Achaia :  2  Grace  to  you  and  peace  from  God 
our  Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  [Since  Paul's 
apostleship  was  in  dispute,  and  since  it  seems  to  have  been  in- 
sinuated that  he  ought  to  have  had  a  letter  from  the  apostles  or 
some  others,  commending  him  as  such  (ch.  3:  i),  he  begins  by 
asserting  that  he  is  such  through  the  will  of  God,  and  hence 
needs  no  human  commendation.  He  joins  Timothy  with  him 
in  the  letter,  since  this  young  man  had  assisted  in  founding  the 
church  at  Corinth.  Anciently  Achaia  was  the  northern  strip 
of  the  Peloponnese,  and  in  this  restricted  sense  Paul  appears 
to  have  used  it  at  i  Cor.  16:  15,  for  he  there  calls  Stephanas 
the  "firstfruits  of  Achaia."  But  in  the  times  in  which  Paul 
•wrote,  Achaia  was  a  Roman  province  embracing  all  the  coun- 
tries south  of  Macedonia,  and  having  Corinth  as  its  capital. 
Since  Paul  uses  the  word  "whole,"  it  is  likely  that  Paul  means 
this   larger   Achaia   which   included   Athens,    and    of    which 


170  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS 

Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  or  some  other  Athenian,  was  the 
"firstfruits"  (Acts  17:  34).  As  Corinth  was  the  political 
capital  of  the  region,  Paul  treated  it  as  the  religious  head- 
quarters, and  addressed  all  the  Achaians  through  it  that  any 
who  came  to  the  capital  might  feel  a  personal  interest  in  his 
letter,  and  read  or  make  copies  of  it.]  3  Blessed  he  the 
God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father 
[fountain,  source— Ps.  86:15;  Eph.  1:17]  of  mercies  and 
God  of  all  comfort;  4  who  comforteth  us  in  all  our 
affliction,  that  we  may  be  able  to  comfort  them  that  are 
in  any  affliction,  through  the  comfort  wherewith  we 
ourselves  are  comforted  of  God.  [Paul  regarded  affliction 
as  a  school  wherein  one  who  is  comforted  of  God  is  thereby 
instructed  and  fitted  to  become  a  dispenser  of  comfort  unto 
others.  He  blesses  God  for  such  lofty  and  blessed  instruction.] 
5  For  as  the  sufferings  of  Christ  abound  unto  us,  even 
so  our  comfort  also  aboundeth  through  Christ.  [By 
"sufferings  of  Christ"  Paul  means  the  persecutions,  etc., 
suffered  for  Christ's  sake.  As  Christ  himself  suffered  while  on 
the  earth,  so  the  church,  his  mystical  body,  must  likewise  suffer 
while  in  the  flesh  (Phil.  3:17;  Gal.  2:  20 ;  Heb.  3:  I3  ;  i  Pet.  4  : 
13  ;  Acts  9:  4).  It  does  this  because  it  lives  as  he  did,  and  its 
work  is  in  a  sense  supplemental  to  his  (Col.  i:  24 ;  John  17:  14 ; 
18:  19,  20).  It  is  comforted  by  the  Holy  Spirit  (John  14:  16- 
18),  with  the  sense  of  the  present  love  of  Christ,  and  assured 
hope  of  reward  ;  a  sense  of  increased  power  to  assist  and  com- 
fort others;  a  trust  that  aU  things  are  working  together  for 
good  (ch.  4:  17).  The  measure  of  affliction  becomes  also  the 
measure  of  comfort.]  6  But  whether  we  are  afflicted,  it 
is  for  your  comfort  and  salvation ;  or  whether  we  are 
comforted,  it  is  for  your  comfort,  which  worketh  in 
the  patient  enduring  of  the  same  sufferings  which  we 
also  suffer  [if,  therefore,  we  are  afflicted,  it  is  for  your  com- 
fort and  salvation  which  is  accomplished  through  the  influence 
of  our  teaching  and  example  ;  or  if  we  are  comforted,  the 
comfort  is  given  to  us  for  your  benefit  and  profit,  that  you  may 
receive  from  us  that  comfort  which  causes  you  to  endure  with 


THANKS  FOR   COMFORT,  ETC.  171 

patience  the  same  suffering  which  we  also  suffer]  :  7  and  our 
hope  for  you  is  stedfast ;  knowing  that,  as  ye  are  par- 
takers of  the  sufferings,  so  also  are  ye  of  the  comfort. 

[And  we  have  a  firm  hope  with  regard  to  you,  that  if  Christ 
has  comforted  us  in  our  affliction,  so  will  he  comfort  you,  if  you 
partake  of  our  sufferings.  The  phrases  "same  sufferings  which 
we  also  suffer"  and  "partakers  of  the  sufferings,"  suggest 
that  Paul  may  have  meant  an  identity  rather  than  a  similarity  of 
suffering.  The  loyal  part  of  the  Corinthian  church  which  he 
is  now  addressing,  no  doubt  had  in  a  large  measure  an  identity 
of  suffering,  for,  by  taking  part  with  the  apostle,  they  exposed 
themselves  to  the  same  detraction,  contempt,  etc.,  which  the 
pestilential  minority  were  visiting  upon  him.  As  the  comfort 
of  Christ  enabled  him  to  be  stedfast,  he  had  an  unwavering 
hope  that  this  same  comfort  would  enable  his  friends  also  to  be 
loyal  and  stedfast.  His  own  stedfastness  had  been  recently 
tested  to  the  uttermost,  but  the  comforting  help  of  Christ  had 
caused  the  test  to  increase  his  stedfastness.  Of  this  test,  and 
its  resulting  influence  of  faith  and  confidence,  he  now  tells 
them.]  8  For  -we  w^ould  not  have  you  ignorant,  breth- 
ren, concerning  our  affliction  which  befell  us  in  Asia, 
that  we  were  weighed  down  exceedingly,  beyond  our 
power,  insomuch  that  we  despaired  even  of  life:  9 
yea,  we  ourselves  have  had  the  sentence  [or  answer] 
of  death  w^ithin  ourselves  \i.  e.,  when  we  asked  ourselves, 
"Can  we  possibly  live  ?"  we  were  compelled  in  our  hopelessness 
to  answer,  "No;  we  must  die"],  that  we  should  not  trust 
in  ourselves,  but  in  God  who  raiseth  the  dead :  10  who 
delivered  us  out  of  so  great  a  death,  and  will  deliver : 
on  whom  we  have  set  our  hope  that  he  will  also  still 
deliver  us;  11  ye  also  helping  together  on  our  behalf 
by  your  supplication ;  that,  for  the  gift  [of  special  deliver- 
ance] bestowed  upon  us  by  means  of  many  [who  prayed 
for  us],  thanks  may  be  given  by  many  persons  on  our 
behalf.  [Your  prayers  aided  to  save  our  life ;  and  our  life, 
thus  saved,  may  save  and  bless  many,  and  so  cause  them  to 
glorify  God.     The  troubles  to  which  the  apostle  here  refers  as 


172   SECOND  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

befalling  him  in  Asia,  were  evidently  those  which  culminated 
in  the  riot  at  Ephesus  (Acts  19:  23-41 ;  20:  i).  Since  Paul  was 
accustomed  to  make  light  of  ordinary  physical  danger,  and 
since  he  did  not  go  into  the  theater,  and  since  they  find  noth- 
ing on  the  face  of  Luke's  record  which  indicates  that  Paul 
suffered  any  anguish  or  any  other  discomfiture  at  that  time, 
some  commentators  have  sought  to  find  some  other  danger  or 
distress  assailing  him,  and,  failing  to  find  it,  they  have  set  about 
inventing  it.  This  has  led  to  all  manner  of  extravagant  and 
unseemly  absurdities,  and  to  assertions  that  the  apostle  had 
cancer,  paralysis,  epileptic  fits,  etc.  Those  learned  in  books 
are  very  often  deficient  in  the  knowledge  of  human  nature ; 
but  one  skilled  in  the  latter  knows  that  no  man  could  pass 
through  Paul's  experience  at  Ephesus  without  undergoing 
immense  excitement,  constant  anxieties  and  most  depressing 
nervous  reaction.  If  Luke  makes  no  mention  of  such  things 
as  part  of  the  incidents  at  Ephesus,  neither  does  he  mention 
them  elsewhere.  He  busied  himself  with  the  external,  not 
with  the  consequent  distresses  of  the  apostle.  One  searches  his 
writings  in  vain  for  most  of  that  long  list  of  hardships  which  Paul 
gives  in  chapter  11.  But  Paul  himself  tells  of  these  anxieties 
and  sufferings  (Acts  20:  19,  27,  31 ;  i  Cor.  15:  32  and  note). 
Had  it  been  any  sickness  he  would  likely  have  mentioned  it, 
and  he  would  hardly  in  that  case  have  used  the  expression  "so 
great  a  death"  when  referring  to  it.  Death  by  any  natural 
means  was  not  sufficiently  repugnant  to  Paul  for  him  to  use 
such  language  (ch.  5:  2;  Phil,  i:  23).  That  he  contents  himself 
with  describing  his  troubles  in  this  general  way  is  itself  sig- 
nificant, for  it  shows  that  the  apostle  thought  it  would  be  amply 
sufficient  for  the  information  of  the  Corinthians.  The  gossip 
of  merchants  and  travelers  would  have  acquainted  Corinth 
with  the  great  hubbub  which  had  been  raised  about  Diana  and 
idolatry  in  Ephesus,  and  it  was  prudent  in  Paul  to  speak  of 
and  commit  himself  as  to  his  part  in  it  in  just  such  indefinite 
terms;  for  his  letter  would  be  widely  circulated.  Having 
spoken  of  his  life  as  worth  saving,  he  next  takes  up  that 
thought,  and  tells  why  he  dares  to  speak  of  himself  in  this  ap- 


THANKS  FOR   COMFORT,  ETC.  173 

parently  boastful  or  glorifying  manner.]  12  For  our  glory- 
ing is  this,  the  testimony  of  our  conscience  [it  is  often 
appealed  to  by  Paul— Acts  23:  i ;  24:  16;  Rom.  9:  i ;  i  Cor.  4: 
4],  that  in  holiness  and  sincerity  of  God,  not  in  fleshly 
wisdom  but  in  the  grace  of  God,  we  behaved  ourselves 
in  the  world,  and  more  abundantly  to  you-ward.  13  For 
w^e  w^rite  no  other  things  unto  you,  than  what  ye  read 
[literally,  read  aloud]  or  even  acknowledge,  and  I  hope  ye 
will  acknowledge  unto  the  end:  14  as  also  ye  did  ac- 
knowledge us  in  part,  that  we  are  your  glorying,  even  as 
ye  also  are  ours,  in  the  day  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  [i  Cor. 
3: 13.  If  my  words  sound  boastful,  my  conscience  justifies  me  in 
using  them,  since  I  have  manifested  the  holy  and  sincere  life 
befitting  one  who  is  directed  of  God,  and  not  the  life  of  one  who 
is  moved  by  worldly  policy  and  wisdom,  and  is  void  of  principle. 
Such  has  been  my  general  conduct,  and  it  has  been  especially 
so  in  my  dealings  with  you.  Thus  the  apostle  shows  himself 
conscious  of  the  scrutinizing  suspicion  with  which  the  Corin- 
thians watched  all  his  actions.  He  knew  that  to  govern  such  a 
people  he  must  walk  with  more  than  common  circumspection. 
Therefore,  with  a  careful,  guarded  spirit  he  had  penned  his 
letters  to  them  so  that  there  was  nothing  in  them  of  doubtful 
meaning.  If  we  assume,  with  Conybeare  and  Howson,  that  the 
apostle  had  been  suspected  of  sending  private  letters  in  which 
he  modified  the  statements  of  his  public  epistles,  the  reading 
becomes  clear  and  smooth,  and  runs  thus :  "I  have  written  you 
nothing  save  what  has  been  read  in  pubHc  and  generally 
acknowledged  as  authoritatively  mine,  and  I  hope  you  will 
thus  acknowledge  my  epistles  to  the  end  of  the  world,  even  as 
part  of  you  acknowledged  me  to  be  an  apostle,  and  gloried  in 
me  as  your  teacher,  even  as  I  also  gloried  in  you  as  disciples, 
in  expectation  that  I  would  appear  with  you  before  the  Lord 
Jesus  (i  Thess.  2:  19,  20;  Phil.  2:  16).  By  thus  placing  himself 
on  a  level  with  his  disciples  in  mutual  glorying,  the  apostle  re- 
moves every  semblance  of  unseemly  self-glorification.  But  the 
meaning  of  the  passage  is  practically  the  same  if  we  merely 
understand  the  apostle  as  appeahng  from  the  false  constructions 


174   SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS 

placed  upon  his  letters,  to  the  text  of  the  letters,  and  as  assert- 
ing that  he  wrote  no  words  which  justified  the  ambiguous 
meaning  placed  upon  them.  We  shall  now  be  told  about  these 
ambiguous  words.]  15  And  in  this  confidence  [/.  e.,  that 
you  gloried  in  me  and  I  in  you,  and  that  we  mutually  loved 
each  other]  I  was  minded  to  come  first  unto  you,  that 
ye  might  have  a  second  benefit  [this  word  implies  the 
spiritual  gifts  which  he  bestowed  on  his  visits — comp.  Rom.  i 
II ;  15:  2q]  ;  16  and  by  you  to  pass  into  Macedonia,  and 
again  from  Macedonia  to  come  unto  you,  and  of  you  to 
be  set  forward  on  my  journey  unto  Judaea,  {i.  e., 
trusting  in  our  mutual  love,  it  was  my  intention  to  visit  you 
before  visiting  the  Macedonians,  that  you  might  have  two  visits 
or  benefits,  one  before  I  went  into  Macedonia  and  one  when 
I  came  out;  and  I  also,  trusting  in  your  love,  looked  to  you, 
instead  of  to  others,  to  forward  me  on  my  journey.  The  apostle 
had  evidently  told  the  Corinthians  of  this  plan  in  the  lost  letter 
which  has  already  been  mentioned.  See  Introduction  to  i 
Corinthians,  page  49;  also  i  Cor.  5:9.  And  then  he  had 
changed  his  plan,  as  we  see  by  i  Cor.  16:  5-7,  and  note.  This 
change  of  plan  gave  Paul's  enemies  a  chance  to  accuse  him  of 
unprincipled  equivocation,  as  though  he  said  :  (i)  *'Yes,  I  will 
come  to  you  first:  no,  I  will  come  to  the  Macedonians  first." 
(2)  ''Yes,  I  will  pay  you  two  visits:  no,  I  will  pay  you  only 
one  visit."  (3)  "Yes,  I  am  coming  soon:  no,  I  am  not  com- 
ing soon."]  17  When  I  therefore  was  thus  minded  [to 
come  to  you  first,  etc.],  did  I  show  fickleness?  [in  deter- 
mining to  come  to  you  second,  etc.]  or  the  things  that  I  pur- 
pose, do  I  purpose  according  to  the  flesh,  that  with  me 
there  should  be  the  yea  yea  and  the  nay  nay  ?  [Do  I 
form  and  announce  my  purposes  like  an  unprincipled  worldling, 
who  holds  his  yes  and  no  subservient  to  his  policy  or  his  pleasure; 
i.  e.,  does  as  he  pleases,  without  any  regard  to  his  pledges  or 
his  promises?]  18  But  as  God  is  faithful,  our  word 
toward  you  is  not  yea  and  nay.  19  For  the  Son  of  God, 
Jesus  Christ,  who  was  preached  among  you  by  us, 
even  by  me  and  Silvanus  and  Timothy  [Paul's  fellow- 


THANKS  FOR    COMFORT,  ETC.  175 

laborers  in  founding  the  church  at  Corinth],  was  not  yea  and 
nay,  but  in  him  is  yea.  20  For  how  many  soever  be 
the  promises  of  God,  in  him  is  the  yea  :  wherefore  also 
through  him  is  the  Amen,  unto  the  glory  of  God 
through  us.  21  Now  he  that  establisheth  us  with  you 
in  Christ,  and  anointed  us,  is  God ;  22  who  also  sealed 
us,  and  gave  us  the  earnest  of  the  Spirit  in  our  hearts. 
["Every  one  when  he  is  perfected  shall  be  as  his  teacher," 
said  Jesus  (Luke  6:  40).  Paul  has  this  truth  in  mind,  and  his 
meaning  is  as  follows:  "As  God  the  teacher  is  a  promise- 
keeper  whose  yea  is  absolute,  unchangeable  and  immutable, 
so  also  am  I,  his  pupil,  a  promise-keeper,  a  yea-man.  I  showed 
my  approval  of  promise-keeping,  and  likewise  taught  you  the 
value  of  such  a  characteristic,  in  that  I,  together  with  my  col- 
leagues, preached  Christ  as  he  is — a  promise-keeper.  For 
God,  no  matter  how  varied  his  promises,  is  indeed  a  promise- 
keeper,  so  that  he  has  begotten  in  us  that  assurance  of  faith 
which  causes  us  to  say  an  expectant  amen  to  all  his  promises, 
and  to  glorify  him  by  living  as  in  anticipation  of  their  fulfill- 
ment. Such  a  God  could  never  indorse  a  promise-breaker,  but 
God  has  indorsed  me.  He  has  established  me,  with  you,  in 
Christ,  and  by  anointing  me  he  has  set  me  apart  to  the  apos- 
tolic office,  and  has  sealed  me  as  his  own,  and  has  given  me 
the  earnest  of  the  Spirit.  If  I  am  thus  his  apostle  and  still 
recognized  as  his,  then  am  I  like  him,  and  raised  above  sus- 
picion of  being  a  pledge-breaker."  The  seal  was  then  a  sign 
or  symbol  indicating  ownership  (Acts  9:  15 ;  Eph.  i:  13;  4:  30; 
Rev.  7:3;  9:4).  False  apostles  might  attempt  to  prove  their 
claims  by  insufficient  evidence,  such  as  letters  of  recommenda- 
tion, but  Paul  was  truly  certified  as  such  by  the  unction  of  the 
Spirit  (Acts  9:  17;  i  John  2:  20).  Earnest  money  was  a  partial 
payment  given  to  bind  a  contract,  or  given  to  a  servant  to 
encourage  and  stimulate  his  faithfulness.  As  a  servant  might 
exhibit  such  earnest-money  in  proof  of  his  employment,  so 
Paul  pointed  to  the  power  of  the  Spirit  in  his  life  as  an  evidence 
that  he  was  in  the  divine  service. 


176   SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

II. 

EXPLANATION  AS  TO  CHANGE  OF  PLANS.    AS  TO 
THE  INCESTUOUS  PERSON.    A  PEAN  OF  JOY. 

i:  23-2:  17. 

[Having  first  argued  that  he  could  not  be  guilty  of  duplicity 
because  of  the  very  nature  of  his  relationships  to  the  true  and 
faithful  God,  Paul  in  this  section  answers  the  charge  more 
specifically  by  giving  such  an  explanation  of  his  actions  as 
clearly  demonstrated  his  sincerity  in  the  entire  premises.] 
23  But  I  call  God  for  a  witness  upon  my  soul,  that  to 
spare  you  I  forbare  to  come  unto  Corinth.  24  Not 
that  we  have  Lordship  over  your  faith,  but  are  helpers 
of  your  joy:  for  in  faith  ye  stand  fast. 

II.  1  But  I  determined  this  for  myself,  that  I  would 
not  come  again  to  you  with  sorrow.  3  For  if  I  make 
you  sorry,  who  then  is  he  that  maketh  me  glad  but  he 
that  is  made  sorry  by  me  ?  [But  I  call  God,  who  knows 
all  things,  even  the  searcher  of  hearts,  to  look  upon  the  secret 
purposes  of  my  soul,  and  to  confirm  the  truth  if  I  speak  it,  and 
to  testify  against  and  punish  me  if  I  lie  (Mai.  3:  5),  that  I 
delayed  to  come  to  Corinth  in  order  that  you  might  have  time 
to  repent,  and  show  your  repentance  by  obedience  ;  for  had  I 
come  at  the  time  which  I  first  mentioned  to  you,  I  would  have 
been  compelled  to  discipline  you,  and  therefore  make  you  sorry 
(i  Cor.  4:  i).  Not  that  I  have  lordship  over  your  faith,  for  in  this 
realm  I  am  only  a  fellow-helper  of  your  joy  by  confirming  you 
in  your  belief  (Rom.  15:  13 ;  Phil,  i:  25) ;  for  by  your  faith  you 
stand  as  free  and  independent,  full-aged  children  of  God  (Gal. 
3:  23-26 ;  4:  1-7,  31 ;  5:  i).  But  when  through  lack  of  faith  you 
fall  into  sinful  practices  I  must  discipline  you.  But  I  deter- 
mined that  for  my  own  gladness  I  would  not  come  speedily  so 
as  to  bring  you  sorrow  as  I  did  on  my  last  visit.  For  if  I  make 
you  sorry,  who  will  make  me  glad  ?  will  I  not  have  made  that 
very  people  sorry  to  whom  I  myself  look  for  gladness?]  3 
And  I  wrote  this  very  thing,  lest,  when   I   came,  I 


EXPLANATION  OF  PLANS,   ETC.  177 

should  have  sorrow  from  them  of  whom  I  ought  to 
rejoice ;  having  confidence  in  you  all,  that  my  joy  is 
the  joy  of  you  all.  4  For  out  of  much  affliction  and 
anguish  of  heart  I  wrote  unto  you  with  many  tears ; 
not  that  ye  should  be  made  sorry,  but  that  ye  might 
know  the  love  which  I  have  more  abundantly  unto 
you.  [I  wrote  this  very  thing  to  you  (viz. :  how  my  coming 
endangered  your  joy,  and  how  you  must  repent  before  I  came 
(i  Cor.  4:  21);  and  how  I  would  delay  my  coming,  and  come 
by  the  long  and  not  the  short  route  (i  Cor.  16:  5-8),  lest  when 
I  came  I  should  have  sorrow  from  those  to  whom  I  looked  for 
joy.  And  I  do  look  for  joy  from  you,  for  I  have  this  confidence 
in  you  all,  that,  though  many  of  you  oppose  me,  yet  there  is 
none  of  you  that  does  not  desire  my  personal  happiness.  More- 
over, my  feehngs  at  the  time  of  writing  are  a  witness  unto  God 
of  the  spirit  in  which  I  wrote,  for  I  wrote  out  of  much  affliction 
and  anguish  of  heart  and  with  many  tears,  which  shows  that 
I  took  no  pleasure  in  thus  administering  correction.  I  did  not 
correct  you  to  cause  you  grief,  but  that  you  might  know  the 
love  which  I  have  more  abundantly  unto  you,  and  which 
can  not  keep  quiet  when  it  sees  you  injuring  yourself  (Ps.  141: 
5  ;  Prov.  27:  6).  By  referring  to  i  Cor.  4:  21  and  5:  i,  it  will 
be  found  that  the  threat  of  correction  at  his  coming,  and  the 
case  of  the  incestuous  person,  were  twin  thoughts  in  the 
apostle's  mind.  The  punishment  of  this  offender  was  one  of 
the  principal  items  that  Paul  wished  them  to  attend  to  before 
he  came;  in  fact,  the  whole  subject  of  visits,  delays,  corrections, 
etc.,  centered  in  this  offender,  and  very  naturally,  therefore, 
while  here  explaining  the  causes  for  his  delay,  the  case  of  this 
incestuous  person  comes  to  mind,  and  the  apostle  uses  him  to 
flood  the  entire  situation  with  light.]  5  But  if  any  [thus 
delicately  does  the  apostle  introduce  this  sinner]  hath  caused 
sorrow^,  he  hath  caused  sorrow,  not  to  me,  but  in  part 
(that  I  press  not  too  heavily)  to  you  all.  [As  I  have  said, 
I  did  not  write  to  cause  you  sorrow.  But  if  the  incestuous  person 
has  caused  you  sorrow,  he  has  caused  sorrow  not  to  me,  but  to 
a  large  part  of  you.     I  will  not  weigh  him  down  with  a  greater 


178   SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

burden  of  guilt  by  saying  to  whom  else  he  has  caused  sorrow. 
The  apostle  is  not  to  be  understood  too  literally.  This  sinner 
had  added  to  the  sorrows  which  he  has  just  mentioned  (verse 
4).  But  the  apostle's  sorrow  was  so  small  compared  with  the 
great  grief  of  the  Corinthian  church  as  to  not  be  worth  men- 
tioning. Comp.  Luke  23:  28.]  6  Sufficient  to  such  a  one 
is  this  punishment  which  was  inflicted  by  the  many; 
7  ro  that  contrariwise  ye  should  rather  forgive  him 
and  comfort  him,  lest  by  any  means  such  a  one  should 
be  swallowed  up  with  his  overmuch  sorrow.  [Paul's 
purpose  had  been  to  save  this  sinner  (i  Cor.  5:  5).  It  seems 
that  a  minority  had  espoused  his  cause,  but  the  majority  had 
excommunicated  him  according  to  the  apostle's  instruction  at  i 
Cor.  5:  13.  The  apostle  here  writes  that  this  punishment  has 
already  proved  sufficient,  and  should  not  be  continued,  but  that, 
on  the  contrary,  the  offender  should  be  forgiven,  received  back 
and  comforted,  lest  he  should  be  swallowed  up  by  despair,  and 
thus  the  punishment  should  defeat  the  very  end  for  which  it 
was  designed.  We  should  note  here  that  excommunication 
and  restoration  are  actions  of  the  church,  and  not  of  the 
officers.]  8  Wherefore  I  beseech  you  to  confirm  your 
love  toward  him.  9  For  to  this  end  also  did  I  write, 
that  I  might  know  the  proof  of  you,  whether  ye  are 
obedient  in  all  things.  [This  shows  that  Paul  had  made 
his  instructions  concerning  the  incestuous  man  a  test.  If  they 
obeyed  him  in  this,  he  could  come  to  them  bringing  joy :  if 
they  disobeyed,  their  condition  would  call  for  further  delay  and 
more  letters  on  his  part.  Here,  then,  is  laid  bare  before  the 
Corinthians  the  inner  thoughts  which  were  governing  the 
actions  of  the  apostle  at  the  time  when  he  was  penning  the 
fifth  chaper  of  his  first  epistle.  They  could  see  now  for  them- 
selves that  their  own  foolish  conduct,  and  not  the  fickleness  of 
the  aposde,  had  caused  the  delay  and  the  change  of  plan; 
that  so  far  as  the  apostle  was  concerned,  he  had  always  intended 
to  visit  them,  and  that  all  his  statements  about  his  visits  had 
been  made  in  good  faith.  Observe  that  as  the  apostle  had  be- 
come the  leader  in  punishment  or  discipline,  he  here  becomes 


EXPLANATION   OF  PLANS,   ETC.  179 

the  leader  in  forgiveness.]  10  But  to  whom  ye  forgive 
anything,  I  forgive  also  :  for  what  I  also  have  forgiven, 
if  I  have  forgiven  anything,  for  your  sakes  have  I  for- 
given  it  in  the  presence  of  Christ ;  1 1  that  no  advantage 
may  be  gained  over  us  by  Satan :  for  we  are  not  igno- 
rant of  his  devices.  [There  is  a  close  correlation  between 
verse  lo  and  i  Cor.  5:  3.  There  Paul  identified  himself  with 
the  church,  and,  though  absent,  anticipated  its  action  and  acted 
with  it.  Here  he  ratifies  beforehand  the  action  which  he 
bids  it  take.  There  he  acted  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  and 
here  he  does  it  in  the  presence  of  Christ.  He  forgives  the 
sinner  for  the  sake  of  the  church,  that  he  may  not  be  lost  to 
the  church.  When  a  church,  through  carelessness  in  exercis- 
ing mercy  and  forgiveness,  loses  a  member,  it  is  permitting 
Satan  to  overreach  it.  Paul  was  too  well  versed  in  Satan's 
methods  to  be  thus  outwitted  by  that  adversary.]  12  Now 
when  I  came  to  Troas  for  the  gospel  of  Christ  [z.  e., 
intending  to  preach],  and  when  a  door  [an  opportunity — i 
Cor.  16:  9  and  note]  was  opened  unto  me  in  the  Lord, 
13  I  had  no  relief  for  my  spirit  [worrying  about  you], 
because  I  found  not  Titus  my  brother  [who  had  agreed 
to  bring  me  word  about  you,  and  meet  me  at  Troas]  :  but 
taking  my  leave  of  them  [the  brethren  at  Troas],  I  went 
forth  into  Macedonia,  [hoping  to  meet  Titus  there.  For 
fuller  details  of  Paul's  movements  and  intentions  see  the  Intro- 
duction. The  relief  which  came  to  him  in  Macedonia  when 
he  met  Titus  causes  him  at  this  point  to  break  forth  'into  an 
expression  of  thanksgiving.  But  as  it  does  not  at  this  time 
suit  his  purpose  to  give  a  detailed  statement  of  his  reason  for 
thankfulness,  he  curbs  his  rising  emotion  and  directs  his  thought 
in  another  channel.]  14  But  thanks  be  unto  God,  who 
always  leadeth  us  in  triumph  in  Christ,  and  maketh 
manifest  through  us  the  savor  of  his  knowledge  in 
every  place.  15  For  w^e  are  a  sweet  savor  of  Christ 
unto  God,  in  them  that  are  saved,  and  in  them  that 
perish;  16  to  the  one  a  savor  from  death  unto  death; 
to  the  other  a  savor  from  life  unto  life.    And  who  is 


180   SECOND  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

sufficient  for  these  things?  17  For  we  are  not  as  the 
many,  corrupting  the  word  of  God :  but  as  of  sinceri- 
ty, but  as  of  God,  in  the  sight  of  God,  speak  we  in 
Christ.  [But  thanks  be  unto  God  for  the  rehef  which  we  re- 
ceived in  Macedonia.  And  God's  leadings  are  ever  thus.  He 
leads  us  as  a  bound,  anxious,  trembling  captive  in  his  tri- 
umphal procession,  but  is  constantly  showing  us  mercy ;  for  the 
procession  is  the  triumph  of  Christ.  He  leads  us  in  this  pro- 
cession as  a  priest  bearing  a  censer,  of  which  the  gospel  is  the 
incense,  giving  forth,  as  a  sweet-smelling  savor,  the  knowledge 
of  Christ  at  Ephesus,  Troas,  Macedonia  or  every  place  whither 
he  leads  us.  Yea,  we  ourselves  (because  Christ  liveth  in  us 
— Phil,  i:  2i)  are  a  sweet  savor  of  Christ  unto  God,  both  to 
them  that  are  saved  and  to  them  that  perish.  To  the  one  the 
incense  of  our  presence  is  a  deadly  savor,  and  to  the  other  a 
veritable  source  of  life,  for  we  make  them  all  conscious  of  the 
triumph  of  Christ  of  which  they  are  part.  Now  in  every  tri- 
umph some  captives  know  that  they  are  being  led  to  death,  and 
others  that  they  are  approaching  the  moment  of  forgiveness  and 
life,  and  of  these  fates  the  incense  keeps  them  in  mind.  And 
who,  therefore,  is  sufficient  to  the  task  of  being  such  a  warn- 
ing, despair-dealing,  hope-dispensing,  life-giving  savor?  who  is 
able  to  preach  this  gospel  of  life  and  death  befittingly?  Realiz- 
mg  our  insufficiency  to  such  a  task,  we  nevertheless  do  our  best, 
for  we  are  not  like  the  many  who  oppose  us  ready  to  adulterate 
the  word  of  God  to  make  it  popular  or  to  suit  our  own  selfish 
ends ;  but,  discharging  our  duty  in  all  sincerity  as  men  inspired 
of  God,  and  laboring  in  the  sight  of  God,  we  speak  under 
authority  of  Christ.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Paul  wrote 
these  words  in  an  age  when  all  the  world  was  familiar  with  the 
glorious  pageantry  of  a  Roman  triumph.  When  L.  Mummius 
had  conquered  Corinth,  the  procession  in  his  honor  was  one 
of  the  most  splendid  which  the  world  had  ever  seen.  In  A. 
D.  51,  just  a  short  while  before  Paul  penned  these  words,  the 
emperor  Claudius  had  celebrated  his  triumph  over  the  Britons, 
and  their  king  Caractacus  was  led  in  the  triumph,  but  was 
spared.     Ordinarily  when  the  victor  reached  the  capitol  it  was 


EXPLANATION   OF  PLANS,   ETC.  181 

the  signal  for  the  slaying  of  many  of  the  captives  in  his  honor, 
and  for  the  forgiveness  of  others.  Thus  the  incense  of  the 
procession  which  permeated  the  air,  and  kept  the  captives 
conscious  of  the  nature  of  the  journey  on  which  they  marched, 
was  redolent  with  hope  or  sorrow,  according  to  the  expecta- 
tions held  out  to  them  by  their  victors.  The  phrases  "from 
death  unto  death''  and  "from  life  unto  life"  are  regarded  by 
some  as  mere  Hebrew  superlatives ;  but  "from"  indicates 
source  :  the  meaning  therefore  is,  the  gospel,  which  arises  from 
Christ  and  which  is  preached  through  us,  is  to  the  unbeliev- 
ing, but  the  incense  arising  from  one  crucified  and  dead,  and 
so  it  is  to  them  a  savor  from  the  dead  and  producing  death. 
But  to  the  believing  it  is  a  savor  from  the  living,  producing  life.] 

III. 

APOSTLESHIP  ABOVE  HUMAN  COMMENDATION, 
AND   THE   MINISTRY   OF    MOSES. 

3:1-18. 

[The  closing  verse  of  the  preceding  cnapter  was  capable  of 
being  construed  as  an  outburst  of  self-laudation,  and  as  the 
apostle  well  knew  that  his  enemies  at  Corinth  accused  him  of 
this  very  vice,  and  hence  would  make  the  most  of  words  sus- 
ceptible of  misconstruction,  he  anticipates  their  move  by  dis- 
cussing not  only  his  words,  but  the  whole  subject  of  this 
(apparent)  self-glorying.]  1  Are  we  beginning  again  [for 
places  where  he  might  be  construed  as  having  done  so  before, 
see  I  Cor.  2:  6;  4:  3,  4,  14-16;  7:  7 ;  9:  1-6,  15,  19,  26,  27;  14: 
18;  16:  10]  to  commend  ourselves?  or  need  we,  as  do 
some,  epistles  of  commendation  to  you  or  from  you  ? 
[These  questions  are  cuttingly  ironical.  Evidently  his  oppo- 
nents at  Corinth  had  come  thither  with  letters  of  commenda- 
tion, either  from  brethren  of  repute,  or  from  churches,  and  had 
drawn  disparaging  contrasts  between  their  own  formal,  official, 
letter-proved  standing  in  the  church,  and  what  they  were 
pleased  to  describe  as  Paul's  self-asserted,  self-manufactured, 

13 


182   SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS 

boast-sustained  standing.  The  apostle  therefore  turns  the  edge 
of  their  own  weapon  against  them,  and  shows  how  ridiculous 
their  claims  to  reverence  and  respect  were  in  comparison  with  his 
own.  Such  powerless  creatures  needed  letters  of  commenda- 
tion— it  was  all  they  had  to  commend  them !  Without  letters 
they  would  be  utter  nobodies.  But  the  letter  which  was  the 
top  of  their  honor  did  not  rise  to  the  level  of  the  bottom  of  the 
apostle's  honor.  For  himself  how  ridiculous  such  letters  would 
be  !  Could  he  bring  a  letter  to  them  ?  it  would  be  like  a  father 
seeking  introduction  and  commendation  to  his  own  children. 
Could  he  ask  a  letter  from  them?  why,  all  the  knowledge, 
grace,  etc.,  which  made  them  capable  of  commending  had 
come  from  him,  their  founder,  so  that  their  commendation 
would,  after  all,  be  only  another  form  of  self-commendation. 
Could  they  think  that  he  overpraised  himself  to  them,  hoping 
thus  to  cozen  them  into  giving  him  exaggerated,  undeserved 
commendation  to  others  ?  Very  early  the  churches  learned  to 
grant  letters  of  commendation.  See  Rom.  i6:  i;  Acts  i8:  27; 
15:25;  Col.  4:10;  Tit.  3:13;  but  such  commendation  was 
always  fallible,  and  liable  therefore  to  abuse — Gal.  i:  7;  2:  12.] 
2  Ye  are  our  epistle,  written  in  our  hearts,  known  and 
read  of  all  men  ;  3  being  made  manifest  that  ye  are  an 
epistle  of  Christ,  ministered  by  us,  written  not  with 
ink,  but  w^ith  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God;  not  in  tables 
of  stone,  but  in  tables  that  are  hearts  of  flesh.  [Do  we 
need  an  epistle  to  any  one  ?  Surely  not  while  you  exist  as  a 
church  which  we  have  founded,  for  ye  are  our  epistle  copied 
by  the  hand  of  love  in  our  hearts,  so  that  everywhere  we  go 
your  conversion  vouches  for  us,  that  we  are  true  messengers  of 
God.  For  as  men  learn  of  you,  either  by  acquaintance  with 
you  as  the  original  epistle,  or  from  what  our  own  heart's  copy 
holds  recorded  about  you,  it  becomes  manifest  to  them  that  ye 
are  an  epistle  of  which  Christ  is  the  author  and  dictator;  of 
which  I  am  the  amanuensis,  or  earthly  penman  ;  of  which  the 
fleshly  tables  of  the  heart — the  very  sources  of  Hfe  itself — are 
that  which  receives  and  holds  the  message ;  and  the  Holy 
Spirit,   the   means   employed   to   convey,   impress,    and   make 


THE   CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  183 

abiding  the  message.  All  men,  seeing  your  transformed  lives, 
read  you  as  such  an  epistle ;  and  as  ye  are  my  fruit  in  the 
Lord,  so  they  need  no  other  commendation  of  me  (Matt.  7:  16). 
The  presentation  of  life  under  the  figure  of  a  writing  was 
familiar  to  Old  Testament  readers  (Ezek.  36:  26;  Jer.  31:  33; 
Prov.  3:  3 ;  8:  3).  Some  have  thought  that  Paul  uses  the  con- 
trast between  stone  and  heart  as  a  reference  to  Ezek.  36:  26; 
but  his  use  of  the  word  ''tables,"  and  the  context,  forbids  such 
a  reference.  Paul  has  the  tables  of  the  law  in  mind,  and  in- 
troduces the  idea  here  that  he  may  lead  up  to  the  comparison 
which  begins  at  verse  6.]  4  And  such  confidence  have 
we  through  Christ  to  God-ward  :  5  not  that  we  are 
sufficient  of  ourselves,  to  account  anything  as  from 
ourselves  ;  but  our  sufficiency  is  from  God ;  6  who  also 
made  us  sufficient  as  ministers  of  a  new  covenant ; 
not  of  the  letter,  but  of  the  spirit  [/.  e.,  not  a  minister  of 
the  old,  legal  dispensation,  but  of  the  new,  spiritual  dispensa- 
tion] :  for  the  letter  killeth,  but  the  spirit  giveth  life. 
[And  I  have  such  bold  assurance  through  Christ  that  God  will 
thus  consider  you  to  be  my  epistle.  Not  that  I  am  sufficient  of 
myself  to  account  myself  as  having  truly  done  any  part  of  that 
which  makes  you  an  epistle,  save  as  I  have  received  the  power 
from  God.  The  truth  which,  written  in  your  hearts,  has  thus 
transformed  you,  is  wholly  of  God ;  so  that  our  ability  or 
sufficiency  to  write  such  an  epistle  as  ye  are,  is  all  from  God, 
who  made  us  thus  sufficient  by  calling  us  to  be  ministers  of 
that  new  covenant  which  performs  such  wonders  of  regenera- 
tion, instead  of  calling  us  to  be  (as  my  Judaizing  opponents 
ever  seek  to  coerce  me  to  be)  a  minister  of  the  old  covenant. 
This  old  covenant  was  given  in  letters  graven  on  stone,  and 
hence  was  a  law  of  letters  governing  us  wholly  from  without. 
But  the  new  covenant,  though  also  committed  to  writing,  and 
hence  in  a  sense  external  to  us,  is  a  code  of  principles  govern- 
ing us  from  within,  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This 
law  of  letters  without  could  only  bring  upon  us  condemnation 
and  death  (Rom.  7:  7-1 1  ;  i  Cor.  15:  56);  but  this  law  of  the 
spirit  within  us  (verse  2)  gives  us  life  (Rom.  2:  27-29;  6:  4,  li; 


184   SECOND  EPISTLE   TO  THE  CORINTHIANS 

8:  2,  10,  II  ;  I  Cor.  15:  45  ;  Gal.  5:  18),     The  contrast  in  verse 
6  is  not  between  the  outward  and  inward  sense  of  Scripture, 
but   between   the   outward   and  inward  power  of   those   two 
great  dispensations,  Jewish  and  Christian.     That  perversion  of 
the  passage  which  gave  it  the  former  meaning,  has  been  used 
to   countenance    those    baneful    allegorical   interpretations    of 
Scripture  which  have  been  the  pest  of  the  church  from  the 
days  of  Origen  to  the  present  time.     Having  shown  that  the 
minister  of  the  new  covenant  had  a  power  not  enjoyed  by  that 
of  the  old,  Paul  proceeds  to  show  that  he  likewise  has  a  glory 
(and    Paul's    enemies  were   criticizing   him   for  glorying)  not 
enjoyed  by  any  minister  of  the  old  dispensation ;  no,  not  even 
by  Moses  himself.]     7  But  if  the  ministration  of  death, 
written  [literally,  "in  letters"],  and  engraven  on  stones, 
came  [was  introduced]  with  glory,  so  that  the  children 
of   Israel  could  not  look  stedfastly  upon  the  face  of 
Moses  for  the  glory  of  his  face  [Ex.  34;  29-35] ;  which 
glory  was  passing  away:   8  how  shall  not  rather  the 
ministration  of  the  spirit  be  with  glory  ?     9  For  if  the 
ministration  of  condemnation  hath  glory,  much  rather 
doth  the  ministration  of  righteousness  exceed  in  glory. 
10  For  verily  that  which  hath  been  made  glorious  hath 
not  been  made  glorious  in  this  respect,  by  reason  of 
the  glory  that  surpasseth.    1 1  For  if  that  which  passeth 
away  was  with  glory,  much  more  that  w^hich  remaineth 
is  in  glory.     [If  the  old  covenant  which  brought  death  glori- 
fied its  introducing  minister,  so  that  the  face  of  Moses  shone 
as  he  brought  it  from  God  to  the  people,  and  glowed  so  re- 
splendently  that  the  children  of  Israel  could  not  look  steadily 
at  him  (though  we  should  note  in  passing  that  this  glory  was  of 
a  temporary,  evanescent  nature) ;  is  it  not  more  to  be  expected 
that  the  initiatory  ministers  of  that  new  covenant  which  brings 
life  shall  be  glorified?     For  if  there  was  glory  in  ministering 
under  that  covenant  which  brought  condemnation,  much  more 
is  there  glory  in  ministering  under  that  which  brings  justifica- 
tion through  righteousness.    For  even  though  the  old  covenant 
was  made  glorious  it  had  no  glory  in  respect  to  or  comparison 


THE   CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY  185 

with  the  new  covenant  by  reason  of  the  excelHng  glory  of  the 
latter.     For  if  that  which  was  outshone  is  glorious,  much  more 
is  that  glorious  which  outshines  it  and  continues  to  obscure  it. 
Paul's  language  suggests  the  rising  sun.     Before  he  comes  the 
stars  seem  glorious,  yet  they  have  no  glory  in  comparison  with 
him.     If  they  are   glorious,   much  more   is   the   king  of   day 
glorious,   who,   by   his  superior  brightness,  remands   all  their 
glittering  orbs  to  darkness.]     12  Having  therefore  such  a 
hope,  we  use  great  boldness  of  speech,  13  and  are  not 
as  Moses,  who  put  a  veil  upon  his  face,  that  the  children 
of  Israel  should  not  look  stedfastly  on  the  end  of  that 
which  was  passing  away:    14  but  their  minds  were 
hardened :  for  until  this  very  day  at  the  reading  of  the 
old  covenant  the  same  veil  remaineth,  it  not  being  re- 
vealed to  them  that  it  is  done  away  in  Christ.     15  But 
unto  this  day,  whensoever  Moses  is  read,  a  veil  lieth 
upon  their  heart.     16  But  whensoever  it  shall  turn  to 
the  Lord,  the  veil  is  taken  away.     [The  word  *'end"  in 
verse  13  is  the  bone  of  contention  in  this  passage.     It  has  two 
meanings:    (i)  The   termination   or  stopping-point.      (2)  The 
purpose,  design  or  ultimate  result.      Macknight,  Alford  and 
others  give  it  the  first  meaning,  and  construe  Paul  as  saying 
that  Moses  covered  his  face  that  the  children  of  Israel  might 
not  see  the  termination  of  the  glory,  as  it  faded  from  his  face. 
But  this  construction  limits  the  typical  concealment  to  the  mere 
fact  that  the  Mosaic  dispensation  was  to  pass  away,  and  is  not 
large  enough  for  Paul's  thought,  as  is  shown  by  the  context. 
Cameron,  Barnes,  etc.,  give  it  the  second  meaning,  which  we 
have  embodied  in  the  following  paraphrase  :   ''In  dealing  with 
the  glory  of  our  ministration  we  do  not  veil  our  meaning  in 
types   and   shadows,  as  Moses   showed  that  he   did   with  his 
ministration,  when  he  typically  concealed  the  glory  of  his  face 
by  putting  a  veil  upon  it.     He  concealed   the   meaning  of  his 
ministration  that  the  children  of  Israel  should  not  look  sted- 
fastly on  Christ,  the  end  or  fulfillment  of  that  dispensation  or 
law  which  was  typically  passing  away  in  the  fading   glory  of 
Moses'  face  (now,  Christ  is  thus  the  end  of  Moses'  law— Rom. 


186   SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS 

lo:  4);  but  the  true  hindrance  was  not  the  typical  veil  worn  by 
Moses,  but  the  real  veil  on  the  minds  of  the  people,  who  were 
dull  of  understanding  and  sinfully  hardened,  so  that  from  the 
very  beginning  they  understood  not  his  dispensation,  nor  do 
they  yet,  for  even  now  when  the  law  is  read  the  great  truth  is 
not  revealed  to  them  that  it  is  all  done  away,  having  ended  in 
Christ.  But  unto  this  day,  whensoever  Moses  is  read,  a  veil  is 
upon  their  heart,  and  they  do  not  see  that  Moses  preaches 
Christ.  But  whensoever  the  Jewish  nation  shall  turn  to  the 
Lord,  then  the  veil  is  taken  away,  and  they  see  that  the  end  or 
purpose  of  the  law  is  to  lead  to  Christ," — Gal.  3:  24.]  17 
Now  the  Lord  is  the  Spirit :  and  where  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty.  18  But  we  all,  with  un- 
veiled face  beholding  as  in  a  mirror  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  are  transformed  into  the  same  image  from  glory 
to  glory,  even  as  from  the  Lord  the  Spirit.  [Now,  Jesus 
is  that  Spirit  or  new  covenant  of  which  I  have  been  speaking 
(verses  3,  6,  8) ;  and  where  that  new  covenant  is,  there  is 
liberty,  especially  the  liberty  of  seeing.  Those  living  under 
Moses,  as  I  have  said,  are  veiled  so  that  they  can  not  see 
Christ  in  their  dispensation,  but  all  we  who  live  under  the  new 
covenant  see  the  glory  of  Christ  with  unveiled  faces  as  he  is 
mirrored  in  that  new  covenant — our  dispensation;  and  our 
faces,  like  that  of  Moses,  are  transformed  at  the  sight,  reflect- 
ing the  glory  of  what  we  see  even  as  the  glory  shines  upon  us 
from  the  Lord,  who  is  indeed  the  very  covenant  itself.  How- 
ever, none  of  the  ministers  of  Christ,  not  even  the  apostles  (ch. 
5:  16),  continually  beheld  Christ  glorified  as  an  objective  reality, 
for  it  is  only  in  our  future  state  that  we  shall  thus  look  upon 
him,  and  that  look  will  fully  effect  the  transformation  into  his 
likeness  which  our  knowledge  of  him  in  the  gospel  has  been 
slowly  working  out  within  us  during  our  earthly  life  (John  17: 
24 ;  I  John  3:  2 ;  Col.  3:  3,  4 ;  Rom.  8:  17  ;  Phil.  3:  12-14  ;  Col, 
1:27).] 


FUTURE   GLORY  SUSTAINS  187 


IV. 

THE    HOPE '  OF    FUTURE    GLORY    SUSTAINS    IN 
PRESENT   TRIALS. 

4:  1-5:  10. 

[Having  shown  that  the  Christian  ministry  is  superior  to  the 
Mosaic,  Paul,  in  this  section,  enlarges  upon  the  two  antithetical 
phases  of  that  ministry,  showing  that  viewed  carnally  it  leads 
to  the  severest  suffering  and  to  death,  while,  viewed  spiritually, 
it  leads  to  ever-increasing  life,  culminating  in  celestial  and  eter- 
nal glory.  The  prospect  of  this  blessed  culmination  enables 
the  minister  to  sustain  his  present  distress  without  fainting.] 
1  Therefore  seeing  we  have  this  ministry,  even  as  we 
obtain  mercy,  we  faint  not  [having  been  forgiven  for  pros- 
ecuting the  church,  and  having  been  graciously  called  to  this 
glorious  ministry  of  the  open  vision,  we  are  moved  and  in- 
spired to  holy  courage  and  perseverance]:  2  but  we  have 
renounced  the  hidden  things  of  shame,  not  walking 
in  craftiness,  nor  handling  the  w^ord  of  God  deceit- 
fully; but  by  the  manifestation  of  the  truth  commend- 
ing ourselves  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight 
of  God.  [This  verse  contrasts  the  true  Christian  ministry 
with  that  false  form  of  it  employed  by  Paul's  enemies.  They, 
preaching  from  selfish  motives,  had  sought  to  undermine  Paul's 
influence  by  calumny,  by  crafty  perversions  of  his  statements, 
and  by  adulterating  the  gospel  with  obsolete  Judaism.  Paul, 
on  the  contrary,  had  practiced  nothing  which  shame  would 
prompt  him  to  hide,  had  used  no  crooked  or  partisan  arts,  had 
taught  nothing  in  private  which  he  did  not  teach  in  public  ; 
and  had,  by  his  open,  candid  frankness  in  presenting  the  truth, 
commended  himself  to  every  variety  of  conscience,  behaving 
himself  as  in  the  sight  of  God.]  3  And  even  if  our  gospel 
is  veiled,  it  is  veiled  in  them  that  perish:  4  in  whom 
the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  the 
unbelieving,  that  the  light  of  the  gospel  of  the  glory  of 


188  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS 

Christ,  who  is  the  image  of  God,  should  not  dawn 
upon   them.      [These    words   are    called   out   by   the   word 
*'  every  "  found  in  verse  2.     The  apostle  anticipates  that  some 
Jew  would  challenge  his  statement,  asserting  that  the  gospel 
was  as  much  veiled  to  him  and  his  brethren,  as  Paul  had  above 
asserted  the  law  to  be  (3:  7-18).     Paul  replies  that  their  failure 
to  acknowledge  the  truth  may  indeed  form  an  exception,  but 
does  not  weaken  his  general  assertion,  since  the  obscurity  lies 
in  their  own  bigotry-closed  eyes  and  not  in  the  truth  presented 
to  them.     The  fault  lay,  not  in  the  nature  of  the  gospel,  but 
in  their  own  nature.     By  unbelief  they  had  fallen  into  Satan's 
power,  and  he  had  blinded  them  (just  as,  conversely,  those 
who  believe  are  enlightened  by  the  Spirit).     The  completeness 
and  hopelessness  of  their  blindness  is  made  most  apparent  by 
the  glorious  luminosity  of  the  divine  gospel  which  they  failed 
to  perceive.     Some  have  been  needlessly  puzzled  by  this  pas- 
sage, because  Paul  called  Satan  a  "god."     The  apostle  does 
not  mean  to  attribute  divinity  to  the  devil.     Satan  is  not  a  god 
properly,  but  is  merely  one  in  reference  to  those  who  have  sin- 
fully made  him  such.     Paul  calls  him  a  god  as  he  would  call 
an  idol  a  god ;  it  being  only  such  in  the  eyes  of  its  worshipers. 
(Comp.  Phil.  3:  19.)     The  phrase  is  equivalent  to  "prince  of 
this  world,"  found  at  John  12:  31  ;   14:  30;   16:  11,  though  in 
John  the  word  kosmos,  or  space-world,  is  used,  while  here  it  is 
the  word  aioon,  or  time-world.     He  is  prince  over  this  world 
of  space,  and  prince  also  over  that  time-world  which  began 
with  the  fall  of  Adam  and  closes  at  the  second  advent.     One 
of  the  methods  by  which  Satan  blinds  the  eyes  will  be  found 
at  John  5:44.     South  pithily  remarks,   "When  the  malefac- 
tor's eyes  are  covered,  he  is  not  far  from  execution"  (Est.  7: 
8).     5  For  we  preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus 
as  Lord,  and  ourselves   as   your  servants  for  Jesus' 
sake.     6  Seeing  it  is  God,  that  said,  Light  shall  shine 
out  of  darkness  [Gen.  1:3;  Isa.  60:  1,2],  w^ho  shined  in 
our  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory 
of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.     [From  such  passages 
as  I  Cor.  2:  6,  7;  4:  16;  11:  i ;   i  Thess.  1:6;  2:  4 ;  3:  9;  Gal. 


FUTURE    GLORY  SUSTAINS  189 

4:  12;  Phil.  3:  17,  Paul  might  have  been  accused  of  preaching 
himself ;  but  he  had  preached  himself  as  a  servant  (i  Cor.  9:  19). 
Paul's  rivals  had  preached  themselves  and  had  sought  to  make 
the  preaching  a  contest  between  him  and  them.  Paul  declines 
this  contest,  and  declares  that  it  is  his  business  to  reflect  the 
light  of  Christ  which  has  shone  in  his  heart;  for  God  sent  his 
Son  to  be  the  light  of  earth's  darkness.  The  apostle  here  al- 
ludes to  the  glorified  face  of  the  Christ  which  appeared  to  him 
on  the  way  to  Damascus.  After  such  a  vision  it  was  impossible 
that  Paul  could  look  upon  himself  as  any  other  than  a  reflector 
of  the  true  Light  which  was  sent  from  God.  It  was  also  im- 
possible that  he  should  regard  the  face  of  Moses  as  comparable 
with  it.  Moreover,  the  prophecy  spoke  of  but  one  light,  and 
took  no  account  of  Moses.]  7  But  we  have  this  treasure 
in  earthen  vessels,  that  the  exceeding  greatness  of  the 
power  may  be  of  God,  and  not  from  ourselves  [We,  in 
our  mortal  bodies,  hold  the  divine  and  heavenly  truth.  God 
has  thus  committed  his  gospel-to  men  that  it  may  be  evident 
to  all  that  it  is  from  him.  The  power  of  the  gospel  so  trans- 
cends that  of  the  human  agent  who  preaches  it  as  to  make  it 
apparent  to  all  that  the  preacher  is  but  an  agent  performing 
duties  which  are  beyond  the  compass  of  his  own  unaided  facul- 
ties. Farrar  sees  in  this  a  reference  to  the  torches  of  Gideon's 
pitchers,  but  the  word  "treasure"  evidently  changes  the 
figure,  so  that  Paul  no  longer  speaks  of  the  gospel  as  a  light. 
Besides,  the  Gideon  incident  conveys  the  idea  of  concealment, 
which  is  not  in  Paul's  thoughts.  The  apostle  is  here  supposing 
that  some  one  will  object  to  his  high  claims  for  the  Christian 
ministry,  asserting  that  the  humiliations  and  sufferings  endured 
by  the  apostle  refute  the  idea  that  he  can  be  an  ambassador  of 
God.  His  answer  is  that  God  put  the  treasure  in  an  earthen 
vessel  in  order  that  the  survival  of  the  perishing  vessel  when 
subjected  to  all  manner  of  vicissitudes  might  prove  the  value, 
in  the  sight  of  God,  of  the  treasure  within  it]  ;  8  we  are 
pressed  on  every  side,  yet  not  straitened;  perplexed, 
yet  not  unto  despair;  9  pursued,  yet  not  forsaken; 
smitten   down,   yet   not  destroyed    [The   apostle   again 


190    SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

changes  his  figure,  and  describes  the  Christian  minister  as  a 
warrior  defending  a  divine  treasure.  His  enemies  press  upon 
him  very  closely,  yet  still  leave  him  room  to  wield  his  weapons. 
He  is  greatly  disturbed  in  mind  because  of  his  imperiled 
position,  yet  does  not  lose  hope  ;  as  the  conflict  grows  more 
strenuous  he  seeks  refuge  in  flight,  but  feels  that  Providence 
has  not  forsaken  him  ;  finally  the  overtaking  enemy  strikes  him 
down,  and  would  overcome  him,  did  not  God  deliver  him  for 
the  sake  of  the  treasure  committed  to  his  defense];  10  al- 
ways bearing  about  in  the  body  the  dying  of  Jesus, 
that  the  life  also  of  Jesus  may  be  manifested  in  our 
body.  11  For  we  who  live  are  always  delivered  unto 
death  for  Jesus'  sake,  that  the  life  also  of  Jesus  may 
be  manifested  in  our  mortal  flesh.  12  So  then  death 
worketh  in  us,  but  life  in  you.  [The  apostle  has  been 
speaking  of  having  and  holding  the  knowledge  of  God  in  a 
mortal  body.  But  the  knowledge  of  God  brings  with  it  the 
eternal  life  that  is  within  God,  so  that  to  have  divine  knowledge 
is  to  have  divine  life  (i  John  i:  3;  5:  19).  The  knowledge  of 
verse  6,  therefore,  gives  place  in  this  passage  to  the  life  which 
it  produces.  The  minister  of  Christ,  having  in  him  the  life  of 
Christ  (Gal.  2:  20),  becomes  in  a  large  measure  a  reduplication 
of  the  life  and  experiences  of  Christ.  He  is,  as  it  were,  con- 
stantly dying  and  being  resurrected.  With  Paul  death  was  a 
matter  of  daily  experience  (i  Cor.  15:  31).  But  by  thus  con- 
stantly dying  and  yet  continuing  to  live,  Paul  typically  re- 
enacted  the  crucifixion  and  resurrection  of  the  Lord.  By 
surviving  so  many  trials  he  made  it  evident  to  the  world  that 
he  was  sustained  by  a  life  other  than  human,  viz.:  the  life  of 
Jesus.  Moreover,  the  daily  sacrifice  of  the  life  of  Paul,  like 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  worked  out  life  and  blessing  for  others, 
notably  the  Corinthians,  to  whom  he  wrote.]  13  But  having 
the  same  spirit  of  faith,  according  to  that  which  is 
written  [Ps.  116:  10],  I  believed,  and  therefore  did  I 
speak;  we  also  believe,  and  therefore  also  we  speak 
[having  the  same  spirit  of  faith  which  was  in  the  Psalmist 
who  proclaimed  his  faith  despite  his  afflictions,  we  preach  right 


FUTURE   GLORY  SUSTAINS  191 

on  despite  all  opposition] ;  14  knowing  that  he  that  raised 
up  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  raise  up  us  also  with  Jesus, 
and  shall  present  us  with  you.  [The  daily  preservation 
of  his  weak  body  was  to  the  apostle  an  earnest,  as  it  were,  of 
the  final  resurrection,  and  the  hope  of  this  resurrection,  in 
company  and  fellowship  with  the  Corinthians,  as  the  fruit  of 
his  labors,  encouraged  him  to  speak  out  and  proclaim  the  gos- 
pel despite  all  forms  of  persecution.]  15  For  all  things  are 
for  your  sakes,  that  the  grace,  being  multiplied  through 
the  many,  may  cause  the  thanksgiving  to  abound  unto 
the  glory  of  God.  [The  whole  gospel  ministry  is  for  the 
sake  of  the  believer,  for  the  beHever  is  the  recipient  of  the 
grace  of  God,  and  the  returner  of  thanks  to  God.  God  is 
glorified  in  him  both  by  the  grace  which  he  bestows  upon  him 
and  the  thanksgiving  which  he  receives  from  him.  It  there- 
fore follows  that  the  more  believers  there  are,  the  more  grace 
there  is  bestowed  and  the  more  thanksgiving  there  is  received, 
and  hence  the  more  God  is  glorified.]  16  Wherefore  [be- 
cause each  death  is  followed  by  a  co-ordinate  resurrection]  we 
faint  not;  but  though  our  outward  man  is  decaying, 
yet  our  inw^ard  man  is  renewed  day  by  day.  [The  sac- 
rifice of  the  carnal  ever  tends  to  the  increase  of  the  spiritual. 
The  apostle  knew  that  the  transfiguration  described  at  3:  18 
was  perfecting  itself  daily],  17  For  our  light  affliction, 
which  is  for  the  moment,  w^orketh  for  us  more  and 
more  exceedingly  [Literally,  in  excess  unto  excess :  a  He- 
braism :  a  method  of  expressing  intensity  by  repetition  of  the 
same  word.  It  might  well  be  rendered  ''an  abounding  upon 
an  abounding,"  thus  suggesting  the  idea  of  progression  by  up- 
ward steps]  an  eternal  weight  of  glory;  18  while  we 
look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the  things 
which  are  not  seen  :  for  the  things  which  are  seen  are 
temporal;  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are 
eternal.  [We  have  here  the  same  law  for  the  Christian 
which  governed  the  life  of  Christ  (Phil.  2:  7-11).  If  afflictions 
are  viewed  with  regard  to  temporal  affairs,  they  seem  heavy 
and  profitless ;  but  when  we  look  upon  them  as  part  of  God's 


192   SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS 

discipline  which  prepares  us  for  an  unseen  world,  then  they 
seem  light  and  momentary.  In  proportion  as  we  keep  our  eyes 
upon  the  future  kingdom  of  God,  with  its  glorious  circum- 
stances and  modes  of  existence,  our  afflictions  increase  our 
faith  and  enlarge  our  character,  and  so  work  out  for  us  a  more 
glorious  future.  The  phrase  ''eternal  weight"  suggests  a 
royal  garment,  richly  freighted  with  ornaments  of  gold  and 
jewels.  Trapp  quaintly  observes,  "  For  affliction,  here's  glory  ; 
for  light  affliction,  a  weight  of  glory;  for  momentary  aGiction, 
eternal  glory.''] 

V.  1  For  w^e  know^  that  if  the  earthly  house  of  our 
tabernacle  be  dissolved,  -we  have  a  building  from  God, 
a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens. 
[An  allusion  to  the  merging  of  the  tabernacle  into  the  temple 
of  Solomon.  As  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelt  in  the  frail  tent 
during  the  pilgrimage  in  the  wilderness,  and  afterwards  took 
up  his  abode  in  the  substantial  and  immovable  temple  in  the 
midst  of  an  established  city,  so  the  spirit  of  man  sojourns  in 
a  tent-dwelling — a  mortal  body — while  on  his  journey  to  the 
new  Jerusalem,  but  at  the  journey's  end  he  shall  have  a 
"house  not  made  with  hands;"  i.  e.,  not  this  present,  material 
body  which  seems  almost  within  the  compass  of  human  con- 
struction, but  a  spiritual  body  which  is  utterly  beyond  it  (comp. 
Mark  14:  58).  Hence  it  is  also  spoken  of  as  "from  heaven," 
to  distinguish  it  from  this  present  body,  the  substance  of  which 
comes  from  the  earth.  The  present  tense  "  we  have  "  is  used, 
not  because  our  spiritual  bodies  now  exist  in  organic  form  (a 
mechanical  view),  but  to  give  vivid  expression  to  the  certainty 
of  our  receiving  such  bodies  (comp.  2  Tim.  4:  8) ;  and  perhaps 
also  to  indicate  that  in  divine  contemplation  and  plan  our  future 
bodies  are  growing  and  taking  form  according  to  the  daily 
growth  and  development  of  our  inner  man.]  2  For  verily 
in  this  we  groan  [Rom.  7:24;  8:23],  longing  to  be 
clothed  upon  with  our  habitation  which  is  from 
heaven :  3  if  so  be  that  being  clothed  we  shall  not  be 
found  naked.  4  For  indeed  we  that  are  in  this  taber- 
nacle do  groan,  being  burdened ;  not  for  that  we  would 


FUTURE    GLORY  SUSTAINS  193 

be  unclothed,  but  that  we  would  be  clothed  upon,  that 
what  is  mortal  may  be  swallowed  up  of  life.  [The 
apostle  here  expresses  two  wishes,  suited  to  either  contingency 
which  confronted  him.  If  he  survived  till  the  Lord's  coming, 
he  longed  to  be  clothed  with  the  spiritual  body  which  the  re- 
deemed shall  then  receive ;  and  expressed  the  hope  that  if  he 
survived  to  that  day  he  would  be  found  clothed  in  that  body, 
and  not  be  left  naked  as  an  outcast  (Rev.  3:  18).  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  was  his  lot  to  die  before  the  Lord  came,  he 
wished  for  the  full  consummation  of  God's  purpose.  He  had 
no  desire  to  be  a  disembodied  spirit,  but  he  wished  to  pass 
through  that  state  to  his  final  spiritual  body ;  just  as  a  seed 
might  say  that  it  did  not  wish  for  the  germinal  death,  but  was 
ready  to  pass  through  that  stage  in  order  to  reach  its  future  as 
a  new  plant.  Paul  did  not  long  for  divestment,  but  for  the 
superinvestment  of  immortality,  the  swallowing  up  of  the 
carnal  by  the  spiritual,  as  in  the  case  of  Enoch  (Gen.  5:  24) 
and  Elijah  (2  Kings  2:  11).  "The  transition  of  figure  from 
building  to  clothing  is  very  easy,  for  our  clothes  are  but  a 
tighter  house.  One  is  a  habit,  the  other  a  habitation" 
{Whedo?i).  5  Now  he  that  wrought  us  for  this  very 
thing  is  God,  who  gave  unto  us  the  earnest  of  the 
Spirit.  [God  designed  man  for  such  superinvestment,  and 
hence  placed  in  him  the  longing  or  groaning  for  its  accomplish- 
ment. As  an  infallible  guarantee  that  the  longing  should  be 
satisfied,  he  has  given  to  the  redeemed  an  earnest  of  the 
Spirit;  Having  given  unto  us  of  his  own  Spirit,  it  is  a  light 
thing  that  he  should  give  us  the  spiritual  body  (Rom.  8:  32). 
6  Being  therefore  always  of  good  courage,  and  know- 
ing that,  whilst  we  are  at  home  in  the  body,  we  are 
absent  from  the  Lord  7  (for  we  walk  by  faith, 
not  by  sight) ;  8  we  are  of  good  courage,  I  say,  and 
are  willing  rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body,  and  to 
be  at  home  with  the  Lord.  [The  soul  has  two  homes,  a 
bodily  and  a  spiritual,  and  the  latter  is  preferable  ;  but  the 
latter  is  not  attained  before  the  resurrection  day.  In  the  state 
between  death  and  resurrection,  of  which  Paul  speaks  in  verse 


194   SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

4,  the  spirit  is  with  Christ,  as  we  are  here  informed.  Though 
Christ  is  with  us  now  while  we  are  in  the  flesh,  yet  we  walk 
by  faith  and  have  no  perception  of  him.  After  death  we  have 
a  spiritual  perception  of  his  presence,  as  Paul's  language  in- 
dicates; but  it  is  only  at  the  resurrection,  when  we  are  fully 
incorporated  in  our  spiritual  body,  that  we  shall  see  him  as  he 
is  (i  John  3:  2),  and  know  as  we  are  known  (i  Cor.  13:  12). 
The  disembodied  state,  though  inferior  in  happiness  to  the  res- 
urrection glory,  is  yet  preferable  to  our  present  state.  Though 
such  a  condition  may  be  lower  than  the  highest  heaven,  yet  it 
is  "home  "  and  "with  the  Lord."]  9  Wherefore  also  we 
make  it  our  aim,  whether  at  home  or  absent,  to  be 
w^ell-pleasing  unto  him.  10  For  we  must  all  be  made 
manifest  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ;  that  each 
one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  the  body,  according 
to  what  he  hath  done,  whether  it  he  good  or  bad.  [Paul's 
aspirations  caused  no  laxity  as  to  duty.  He  tried  to  so  live  as 
to  please  Christ  now,  and  also  when  summoned  before  him ; 
i.  e.,  he  strove  to  please  Christ  whether  conscious  of  his  pres- 
ence or  not,  realizing  that  all  his  deeds  would  come  to  public 
and  open  manifestation  and  judgment.  In  thus  outlining  his 
own  course,  the  apostle  gave  a  salutary  warning  to  his  enemies 
that  they  should  follow  his  example,  and  also  gave  them  a  tacit 
notice  that,  no  matter  how  ill  they  might  use  him,  they  would 
still  find  him  sustaining  the  conflict  with  untiring  zeal.] 


V. 

RECONCILIATION,  AND   THE   MINISTRY   OF 
RECONCILIATION. 

5:11-21. 

11  Knowing  therefore  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  we  per- 
suade men,  but  we  are  made  manifest  unto  God;  and 
I  hope  that  we  are  made  manifest  also  in  your  con- 
sciences. [Knowing  therefore  what  reason  there  is  to  fear 
displeasing  God,  we  do  not  court  his  displeasure  by  abandoning 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  RECONCILIATION     195 

our  ministry  because  men  misjudge  and  slander  us,  nor  by 
letting  our  ministry  lose  its  force  and  power  through  our 
indifference  to  the  good  opinion  of  men  concerning  us ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  we  continue  in  our  ministry,  and  patiently 
persuade  our  opponents  of  our  sincedty  and  integrity  when 
we  assert  (verse  9)  that  our  sole  ambition  is  to  please  God. 
But  we  do  not  need  to  persuade  God  in  this  matter,  for  our 
hearts  are  known  and  manifest  to  him,  and  1  trust  that  they 
are  also  in  like  manner  manifest  to  you  by  reason  of  this 
apology  which  you  have  caused  me  to  make.]  12  We  are 
not  again  commending  ourselves  unto  you,  but  speak 
as  giving  you  occasion  [literally  a  "starting-point,"  or,  in 
warfare,  "a  base  of  operations"]  of  glorying  on  our  behalf, 
that  ye  may  have  wherewith  to  answer  them  that  glory 
in  appearance,  and  not  in  heart.  [In  thus  speaking  of  his 
manifest  righteousness  in  the  sight  of  God  and  the  church,  the 
language  of  Paul  might  be  construed  as  boastful  and  self- 
commendatory.  To  prevent  such  a  misconstruction  he  tells 
them  plainly  that  his  purpose  is  to  draw  a  contrast  between 
himself  and  his  opponents,  a  contrast  which  Paul's  friends  in 
Corinth  might  use  with  telling  effect  when  contending  for  the 
superiority  of  the  apostle.  Paul's  opponents  gloried  in  those 
things  which  were  outward,  or  which  made  an  external  show, 
taking  pride  in  their  letters  of  recommendation,  their  personal 
knowledge  of  Christ  in  the  flesh,  their  learning  and  eloquence, 
their  intercourse  with  the  original  apostles,  their  Hebrew 
descent,  circumcision,  etc.  Paul,  on  the  contrary,  gloried  in 
the  vital  religion  of  the  heart,  in  that  moral  and  spiritual 
imitation  of  Christ  which  is  well  pleasing  to  God,  and  which 
delights  in  the  thought  that  it  is  constantly  manifest  to  God.] 
13  For  whether  we  are  beside  ourselves,  it  is  unto 
God;  or  whether  we  are  of  sober  mind,  it  is  unto 
you.  [Paul  could  not  appeal  to  the  approval  of  his  character 
in  the  sight  of  God  without  bringing  to  his  own  mind  and  the 
mind  of  his  readers  the  striking  difference  between  the  mani- 
festations of  divine  communion,  inspiration,  etc.,  which 
characterized   his  own   life,  and    the    dry,  barren   formalism 


196   SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

which  characterized  the  Hves  of  his  critics;  yet  he  well  knew 
that  if  his  friends  gloried  in  those  things  wherein  his  life 
touched  upon  the  divine,  his  enemies  would  sneer  at  them  as 
mere  evidences  of  insanity  and  madness.  To  answer  this 
sneer  the  apostle  sets  forth  his  whole  life  in  its  two  grand 
divisions  or  forms  of  manifestation,  viz.:  his  insanity  and 
sanity.  That  which  his  enemies  knew  as  the  insane  part  of 
it  was  wholly  devoted  to  God,  and  that  which  was  generally 
recognized  as  the  sane  part  of  it  was  wholly  devoted  to  the 
church,  and  at  this  time  especially  directed  toward  Corinth. 
Hence  it  appeared  that  in  neither  department  of  his  life  was 
there  any  room  for  self-seeking.  His  friends  therefore  could 
answer  his  enemies  thus:  "  Viewed  in  one  aspect,  Paul's  life  is 
wholly  devoted  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  viewed  in  another  it  is 
utterly  sacrificed  for  us  and  our  salvation.  It  is  evident,  there- 
fore, that  having  but  these  two  ends  in  view,  he  can  not  be 
seeking  self-exaltation."  Paul's  opponents  looked  upon  his 
madness  as  commencing  with  his  conversion,  and  in  their 
eyes  his  ecstasies,  visions,  revelations,  trances,  inspiration  and 
mystic  intercourse  with  God  and  Christ  were  conclusive  evi- 
dences that  his  mind  was  unbalanced.  But  the  very  nature 
of  the  phenomena  showed  a  character  void  of  all  self-seeking. 
Paul's  sanity  consisted  in  his  sound  judgment,  forbearance, 
tact,  consideration,  charity,  etc.,  in  the  handling  of  the 
churches  as  is  displayed  in  all  his  epistles.  It  is  true  that  in 
this  field  the  apostle  maintains  his  dignity  and  authority,  but 
in  every  instance  where  he  does  so,  it  is  for  the  obvious  pur- 
pose of  directing  and  benefiting  others,  and  not  with  any 
design  to  exalt  himself.]  14  For  the  love  of  Christ  con- 
straineth  us  ;  because  we  thus  judge,  that  one  died 
for  all,  therefore  all  died;  15  and  he  died  for  all,  that 
they  that  live  should  no  longer  live  unto  themselves, 
but  unto  him  who  for  their  sakes  died  and  rose  again. 
[Paul's  life  was  devoted  to  Christ,  and  to  man  for  Christ's 
sake.  When  tempted  to  swerve  from  either  of  these  services, 
Christ's  love  for  him  confined  him  within  the  limits  of  the  life 
of  sacrifice  which  he  has  described,  and  which  he  regarded  as 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  RECONCILIATION     197 

prescribed  for  him  by  the  Lord.  His  reasons  for  regarding 
this  hfe  as  prescribed  for  him  grew  out  of  his  view  of  the 
death  of  Christ.  He  regarded  the  death  of  Christ  as  repre- 
sentative. As  Christ  had  died  as  the  head  of  the  race,  there- 
fore all  men  had  died  with  him  to  their  sins,  and  so  were  obli- 
gated to  lead  self-sacrificing,  unselfish,  sinless  lives  for  the 
sake  of  him  who,  on  their  behalf,  had  died  and  risen  again. 
Compare  Rom.  6:i-ii;  Gal.  5:4;  2:19,  20;  Col.  3:.-^.]  16 
Wherefore  we  henceforth  know  no  man  after  the 
flesh:  even  though  we  have  known  Christ  after  the 
flesh,  yet  now  we  know  him  so  no  more.  17  Where- 
fore if  any  man  is  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature : 
the  old  things  are  passed  away ;  behold,  they  are  be- 
come new.  [By  his  spiritual  participation  in  the  death  and 
resurrection  of  Christ,  Paul  had  become  a  regenerated  man, 
and  as  such  he  refused  to  judge  or  look  upon  men  after  that 
carnal,  superficial,  unregenerate  method  which  estimates  them 
according  to  outward  appearances,  and  not  according  to  their 
inward  spiritual  life.  In  asserting  this  great  principle  he  is 
reminded  that  before  his  conversion  he  had  known  and  judged 
Christ  after  this  carnal  fashion.  The  allusion  suggests  that  if 
he  made  a  woeful  mistake  in  thus  doing,  his  enemies  were 
even  now  following  in  his  footsteps  in  thus  judging  him,  a 
minister  and  servant  of  Jesus  Christ.  Christian  men,  being 
spiritual  beings,  are  to  be  judged  as  such.  The  old  standards 
of  the  law  can  not  be  applied  to  them  ;  they  are  not  to  be 
accepted  because  they  are  children  of  Abraham,  nor  rejected 
because  they  are  Gentiles.  To  them  all  things  are  become 
new,  and  they  must  judge  and  be  judged  by  the  new  environ- 
ment into  which  the  providence  of  God  has  brought  them.] 
18  But  all  things  are  of  God,  who  reconciled  us  to 
himself  through  Christ,  and  gave  unto  us  the  minis- 
try of  reconciliation ;  19  to  wit,  that  God  was  in 
Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,  not  reck- 
oning unto  them  their  trespasses,  and  having  com- 
mitted unto  us  the  word  of  reconciliation,  [Christ's 
love,  I  say,  constrains  me  to  sacrifice  for  men,  and  to  persuade 

14 


198  SECOND  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

them  when  they  grossly  misconstrue  me,  and  to  seek  reconcili- 
ation with  them  when  they  fight  against  me.  For  the  whole 
dispensation  under  which  I  work  is  from  God,  and  is  an  efTort 
on  his  part  to  reconcile  his  human  enemies  unto  himself. 
When  I  myself  was  such  an  enemy  God  reconciled  me,  and 
gave  to  me  the  work  or  ministry  of  reconciling  others ;  so  that 
I  am  obliged,  both  by  a  sense  of  duty  and  of  gratitude,  to 
proclaim  to  man  that  God  sent  Christ  to  reconcile  the  world  to 
him  through  the  forgiveness  of  those  trespasses  which  made 
them  fear  and  hate  him;  and  that  I  may  not  fail  in  this  sacred 
office  I  am  likewise  obliged  to  persuade  men  that  this  ministry 
of  reconciliation  is  committed  to  me.]  20  We  are  ambas- 
sadors therefore  on  behalf  of  Christ,  as  though  God 
■were  entreating  by  us :  we  beseech  you  on  behalf  of 
Christ,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God.  21  Him  who  knew 
no  sin  he  made  to  he  sin  on  our  behalf ;  that  w^e 
might  become  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him. 
[Wherefore,  I  have  no  choice  in  the  matter,  but  must  meet 
enmity  with  persuasion  and  an  efTort  at  reconciliation  ;  for  if 
men  attack  me  I  am  not  a  free  and  independent  man,  but  an 
ambassador  to  Christ  the  Reconciler;  and  if  they  attack  my 
ministry,  lo,  it  also  is  not  mine,  but  is  Christ's  ministry  of 
reconciliation;  soon  Christ's  behalf  I  am  constrained  to  seek 
reconciliation,  not  with  myself  alone,  but  with  God.  And 
surely  my  appeal  is  not  without  weight,  for  it  has  the  con- 
straining power  of  the  love  of  God — a  love  manifested  in 
God's  gift  of  his  sinless  Son,  who  was  made  sin  for  us  that  we 
might  be  reconciled  to  God  by  attaining  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  him  ;  /.  e.,  by  virtue  of  our  union  with  him  as  part  of 
his  mystical  body.] 


THE   WARNING  199 


VI. 


INTRODUCTION   TO   A   WARNING,   AND  THE 
WARNING 

6:  1-7:  I 

1  And  working  together  with  him  we  entreat  also 
that  ye  receive  not  the  grace  of  God  in  vain  2  (for  he 
saith,  At  an  acceptable  time  I  hearkened  unto  thee,  And 
in  a  day  of  salvation  did  I  succor  thee:  behold,  now  is 
the  acceptable  time;  behold,  now  is  the  day  of  Salvation) 
[The  apostle  here  begins  to  give  a  warning  which  is  fully  set 
forth  later  (vs.  14-18).  Before  giving  the  warning  he  pauses  to 
establish  his  character,  influence  and  authority  among  them, 
that  his  warning  may  have  weight.  This  establishment  of  his 
authority,  etc.,  fills  up  the  intervening  space  (vs.  3-13).  These 
two  verses  of  introduction  will  be  considered  together  with  the 
warning  itself]:  3  giving  no  occasion  of  stumbling  in 
anything,  that  our  ministration  be  not  blamed  [The  par- 
ticiple "giving"  co-ordinates  with  "entreats"  found  in  verse  i. 
To  give  force  and  effect  to  his  entreaty,  Paul  conducted  himself 
in  the  manner  described  in  this  and  the  following  verses.  It  is 
a  well-recognized  fact  that  whenever  blame  attaches  to  a  min- 
ister, his  ministry  will  be  weakened,  if  not  neutralized.  Without 
the  confidence  of  the  people  the  minister  possesses  little  power, 
no  matter  how  extraordinary  his  talent.  Therefore,  before 
proceeding  to  fully  express  the  matter  of  his  beseeching,  the 
apostle  pauses  to  fully  set  forth  all  the  pains,  cares,  suffering, 
etc.,  which  he  had  habitually  undergone  in  order  to  make  his 
beseeching  effective];  4  but  in  everything  commending 
ourselves,  as  ministers  of  God,  in  much  patience,  in 
afflictions,  in  necessities,  in  distresses,  5  in  stripes, 
in  imprisonments,  in  tumults,  in  labors,  in  watchings, 
in  fastings  [Instead  of  weakening  his  ministry  by  making  it 
blameworthy,  Paul  had  striven  to  make  it  commendable  by  the 
patient  endurance  of  all  manner  of  trials.     Had  he  shrunk  from 


200  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

enduring  these  trials,  he  would  have  been  ill  qualified  to  pre- 
scribe for  others  those  rules  of  duty  which  called  for  self-sacrifice, 
one  of  which  rules  he  is  about  to  lay  down  for  the  Corinthians. 
Paul  specifies  three  classes  of  sufferings  which  he  endured,  and 
each  class  contained  three  members.  In  the  first  three  the  idea 
of  hindrance  predominates,  and  in  the  second  that  of  violent 
opposition,  and  in  the  third  that  of  hardship.  For  a  sample  of 
Paul's  afflictions  see  chap,  i:  4-11.  For  necessities  arising 
from  his  poverty,  etc.,  see  Acts  20:  34,  and  compare  with  inci- 
dents in  his  later  life;  as,  Phil.  4:  12  and  2  Tim.  4:  13.  The 
word  "distresses,"  which  forms  the  climax  of  the  first  triplet, 
means  "extreme  pressure"  and  is  used  to  describe  one  who  is 
jammed  in  a  corner,  or  so  pressed  upon  by  the  multitude  that 
he  can  not  move:  it  is  found  at  4:  8.  For  the  "stripes"  see  11: 
23-28.  The  only  instance  of  imprisonment  of  which  Luke  tells 
us  is  found  at  Acts  16:  24.  The  imprisonments  at  Jerusalem, 
Csesarea  and  Rome  took  place  after  this  was  written.  As  to  the 
tumults,  they  were  the  normal  incidents  of  Paul's  daily  life 
(Acts  13:  50;  14:  19;  26:  22;  17:  4,  5;  18:  12;  19:  28,  29;  21:  27- 
39;  22:  22,  23;  23:  9,  10;  27:  42,  etc.).  As  to  Paul's  wasting 
labors,  see  ch.  11:  28;  i  Cor.  4:  12;  15:  10;  Acts  20:  34;  i  Thess. 
2:  9;  2  Thess.  3:  8;  Rom.  16:  12.  We  may  well  imagine  that  so 
many  tumults  and  such  incessant  labor  would  result  in  many 
sleepless  nights  or  painful  watchings  (ch.  11:  27);  but  Paul  also 
labored  at  night  (Acts  20:  31;  i  Thess.  2:  9,  etc.).  The  fastings 
mentioned  were  not  voluntary,  but  indicate  the  unavoidable 
hunger  which  came  upon  him  by  reason  of  his  incessant  ministry. 
Having  rehearsed  the  sufferings  which  he  endured,  the  apostle 
next  names  six  especial  gifts  or  virtues  which  he  manifested 
while  thus  enduring];  6  in  pureness  [he  had  lived  a  holy  and 
chaste  life],  in  knowledge  [His  sufferings  had  not  perverted 
his  understanding  of  the  gospel,  or  of  God's  plan.  As  he  had 
endured  all  temptations  to  self-indulgence,  so  had  he  likewise 
withstood  all  those  whisperings  of  Satan  which  bade  him  make 
life  easier  by  compromising  the  truth  which  he  knew],  in 
longsuffering,  in  kindness  [If  he  had  been  loyal  in  the  sight 
of  God,   in  that   he  had  abstained  from  self-indulgence   and 


THE   WARNING  201 

heresy,  so  he  had  been  faithful  toward  men  in  patiently  endur- 
ing their  misconstructions  and  insults,  and  in  constantly  return- 
ing good  for  evil],  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  love  unfeigned 
[If  Paul's  sufferings  had  given  an  appearance  of  weakness  to  his 
life,  the  Holy  Spirit  had  given  it  unquestioned  power  and  had 
crowned  his  ministry  with  success  (i  Thess.  1:5;  Rom.  15:  18, 
19).  And  if  the  Spirit  had  thus  sanctioned  his  work  by  out- 
ward conquests,  he  had  likewise  sanctioned  it  by  inward  vic- 
tories, so  that  Paul  had  risen  to  that  love  unfeigned  which  is  the 
supreme  gift  of  the  Spirit  (i  Cor.  8:  i;  13:  1-13;  Rom.  12:  9-21; 
ch.  12:  15;  I  Pet.  i:  22;  2  Pet.  i:  5-8).  From  those  traits  and 
gifts  which  were  more  passive,  Paul  now  turns  to  enumerate  those 
which  were  more  active],  7  in  the  word  of  truth,  in  the 
power  of  God  [If  Paul  had  kept  his  private  life  in  fit  condition 
for  the  ministry,  he  had  likewise  demeaned  himself  publicly  as  a 
true  aposde.  If  he  had  kept  his  heart  loyal  to  the  truth,  he  had 
likewise  kept  his  tongue  faithful  to  the  proclamation  of  it.  In  ex- 
ercising discipline  he  had  manifested  the  fullness  of  the  power 
of  God  which  was  in  him — ch.  4:  7;  i  Cor.  2:  4,  5;  4:  19-21; 
Acts  13:  9-12];  by  the  armor  of  righteousness  on  the 
right  hand  and  on  the  left  [The  armor  of  the  right  hand 
was  offensive,  and  that  of  the  left  was  defensive.  As  a  true  min- 
ister of  Christ  engaged  in  the  Christian  warfare,  Paul  knew  how 
to  strike  so  as  to  discipline  all  real  offenders,  and  he  also  was 
well  able  to  defend  himself  against  the  attacks  of  unchris- 
tian Jews,  etc.,  and  false  brethren,  who  assailed  his  character 
as  they  had  here  at  Corinth],  8  by  glory  and  dishonor 
[When  present  in  such  cities  as  Philippi,  Thessalonica  and 
Corinth,  etc.,  Paul  had  been  held  in  glory  and  honor  by  the 
converts  of  his  ministry,  but  had  been  dishonored  by  heathens, 
Jews  and  JudaizingChristians],  by  evil  report  and  good  re- 
port [in  his  absence  those  who  honored  him  spoke  well  of  him, 
and  those  who  dishonored  him  gave  him  an  evil  report];  as  de- 
ceivers, and  yet  true  [regarded  by  some  as  a  deliberate  cheat 
and  a  misleading  impostor,  yet  approved  of  God  and  his  own 
conscience  as  a  true  apostle];  9  as  unknown,  and  yet  well 
known  [ignored  and  unrecognized  by  the  rulers  and  the  gen- 


202  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

eral  public,  yet  well  known  by  all  those  in  any  way  interested 
in  the  gospel  of  Christ,  either  as  friends  or  enemies];  as  dying, 
and  behold,  "we  live  [the  life  of  the  apostle  was  constantly 
exposed  to  death  and  just  as  constantly  delivered  and  pre- 
served]; as  chastened,  and  not  killed  [Paul  was  being  con- 
tinually schooled  and  educated  by  suffering  and  yet  the  suffer- 
ing was  not  more  than  he  could  bear — Ps.  ii8:  i8;  Heb.  12:5-10]; 
10  as  sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicing  [having  abundant 
sorrow  as  to  this  present  life,  yet  boundless  rejoicing  in  con- 
templation of  the  life  to  come];  as  poor,  yet  making  many 
rich  [being  penniless  indeed  in  worldly  goods,  yet  able  to 
enrich  all  men  with  the  knowledge  of  the  grace  of  God,  and 
the  heavenly  blessings  and  benefits  resulting  and  to  result  from 
that  grace];  as  having  nothing,  and  yet  possessing  all 
things.  [As  having  sacrificed  all  things  for  Christ  and  his  gospel 
(Phil.  3:  7,  8),  and  yet  sensible  of  having  lost  nothing  by  the 
exchange,  but  of  having  made  infinite  gain  thereby  (Matt.  16: 
25;  I  Cor.  3:  21,  22).  Such  had  been  the  ministry  of  the  apos- 
tle on  behalf  of  the  Corinthians,  and  therefore  in  the  next  three 
verses  the  apostle  appeals  to  them  to  show  to  him  an  affection 
like  that  which  he  has  bestowed  upon  them.]  11  Our  mouth 
is  open  unto  you,  O  Corinthians,  our  heart  is  enlarged. 
12  Ye  are  not  straitened  in  us,  but  ye  are  straitened  in 
your  own  affections.  13  Now  for  a  recompense  in  like 
kind  (I  speak  as  unto  my  children),  be  ye  also  en- 
larged. [When  Paul  had  written  his  former  letter  his  heart 
had  been  narrowed  by  his  suspicions  as  to  the  loyalty  of  the 
Corinthians,  and  he  had  spoken  to  them  as  with  compressed 
and  guarded  lips,  weighing  not  only  his  words,  but  mindful,  as 
it  were,  of  the  tone  in  which  he  uttered  them.  But  by  their 
obedience  to  the  instructions  which  he  gave  them  his  confidence 
in  them  had  been  restored,  his  heart  had  dilated  to  its  former 
largeness  and  wealth  of  affection  toward  them,  and  his  mouth 
had  been  set  free  to  speak  to  them  unreservedly  .and  openly.  If 
any  strained  or  straitened  relations  existed  between  them,  they 
arose  from  the  hearts  of  the  Corinthians  themselves.  Paul 
therefore  beseeches  them  to  recompense  his  love  with  their  love, 


THE   WARNING  203 

his  largeheartedness  with  corresponding  largeness  of  heart  on 
their  part,  and  he  does  this  in  the  spirit  and  with  the  expecta- 
tion which  a  father  has  when  talking  with  his  children.     Thus, 
after  the  long  parenthetical  digression  which  began  at  verse  3, 
the  apostle  comes  back  to  the  subject-matter  of  verses  i  and  2. 
Having  put  himself  in  a  proper  position  to  give  an  admonition, 
and   the    Corinthians  in  the    right  attitude    to   receive   it,    he 
imparts  the  warning  which  he  began  to  introduce  in  verse  i.] 
14   Be  not  unequally  yoked  with  unbelievers  [a  figure 
drawn  from  the  law — Deut.  22:  9-1 1]:  for  what  fellowship 
have  righteousness  and  iniquity  ?  or  what  communion 
hath  light  with  darkness?  15  And  what  concord  hath 
Christ  with  Belial?  [Literally,  "worthlessness,"  'Mepravity." 
The  term  is  here  used  as  a  synonym  for  Satan,  who  is  the  im- 
personation of  impurity]  or  what  portion  hath  a  believer 
with  an  unbeliever?  16  And  w^hat  agreement  hath  a 
temple  of  God  with  idols?  for  w^e  are  a  temple  of  the 
living  God;  even  as  God  said  [Lev.  26:  12;  Ex.  29:45;  Ezek. 
27:  27;  Jer.  31:  i],  I  will  dwell  in  them,  and  walk  in  them; 
and  I  will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people. 
[In  the  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians  the  apostle  had  reasoned 
with  the  church,  giving  it  instruction  as  to  marriage  ties  between 
pagans  and  believers,  and  as  to  the  social  and  other  fellowships 
which  tempted  the  Corinthians  to  take  part  in  idol  feasts.     In 
all  this  his  language  had  been  careful  and  guarded,  and  he  had 
recognized  to  the  full  every  principle  of  Christian  liberty  involved 
in  these  questions.    He  now  lays  aside  the  argumentative  reserve 
which  characterized  his  first  letter  and  tells  them  plainly  that 
by  thus  going  to  the  extreme  limits  of  their  liberty  they  are 
Hable  to  make  the  grace  of  God  in  vain  as  to  them.     That  life 
is  a  brief  day  of  probation  wherein  they  should  not  hazard  their 
salvation.     Then,  by  a  series  of  short,  terse  questions  he  shows 
the  utter  folly,  the  inconsistency  and  incongruity  of  every  form  of 
alliance  which  entangles  the  children  of  God  with  the  children 
of  the  devil.     The  world  has  not  so  improved,  and  Satan  has  not 
so  repented,  as  to  in  any  way  nullify,  or  even  weaken,  the  weight 
and  applicability  of  this  apostolic  warning.]     17  Wherefore 


204   SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS 

Come  ye  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate, 
saith  the  Lord  [Isa.  52:  11],  And  touch  no  unclean  thing; 
And  I  will  receive  you,  18  And  will  be  to  you  a 
Father,  And  ye  shall  be  to  me  sons  and  daughters, 
saith  the  Lord  Almighty.     [Hos.  i:  10;  Isa.  43:  6.] 

VII.  1  Having  therefore  these  promises,  beloved, 
let  us  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  defilement  of  flesh 
and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God.  [By 
an  appeal  to  the  prophets  the  apostle  shows  how  it  was  God's 
design  that  his  people  should  avoid  all  fellowship  with  unright- 
eous people  in  their  unrighteous  practices.  To  stimulate  them 
to  obedience,  God  had  given  them  the  wonderful  promise  that 
he  would  adopt  them  as  his  children  if  they  would  obey  him  in 
these  things.  This  promise  of  adoption  had  been  renewed  in 
the  new  covenant,  and  belonged  to  all  Christians,  and  there- 
fore it  behooved  Christians  not  to  temporize  with  evil  because 
of  any  vainglorious  desire  to  display  their  liberty,  lest  they 
should  thereby  lose  the  real  and  eternal  glory  of  being  adopted 
sons  and  daughters  of  God.] 

VII. 

AN   APPEAL   TO    BE   ACCEPTED 
7:  2-16. 

[In  this  section  the  apostle  appeals  to  the  Corinthians  to 
accept  him  as  a  true  apostle  and  minister  of  Christ,  and  as  per- 
suasive to  this  end  he  sets  forth  his  affection  for  them,  his 
anxiety  concerning  them,  and  his  joy  at  learning  of  their  loyalty 
to  him.]  2  Open  your  hearts  to  us:  we  w^ronged  no 
man,  we  corrupted  no  man,  we  took  advantage  of  no 
man.  [Open  your  hearts  and  receive  us  into  your  love  and 
confidence,  for,  despite  all  that  our  enemies  have  said  about  us, 
it  must  be  apparent  to  you  when  you  have  sifted  their  accusa- 
tions that  they  have  proved  nothing  which  should  shake  your 
confidence  in  us.  We  have  replied  to  their  accusations  without 
in  any  way  dealing  unjustly   by  them,  and  they  have  failed  to 


AN  APPEAL    TO   BE  ACCEPTED  205 

show  that  we  have  corrupted  any  one,  either  in  morals  or  doc- 
trine, or  that  we  have  in  any  way  overreached  anybody,  or 
shown  any  mercenary  spirit  (i  Cor.  9:  1-6.)  Compare  Num. 
16:  15 ;  I  Sam.  12:  3-5.]  3  I  say  it  not  to  conc|emn  you:  for 
I  have  said  before,  that  ye  are  in  our  hearts  to  die  to- 
gether and  live  together.  [I  do  not  say  these  things  as  though 
I  would  complain  of  you  that  you  are  so  ungrateful  and  unjust  as 
to  accuse  me  of  them.  I  am  merely  defending  myself  and  not 
condemning  you.  I  have  no  desire  to  do  the  latter,  for  as  I  have 
before  said,  I  love  you  so  that  I  am  ready  to  die  with  you  or 
live  with  you.  Compare  i  Thess.  2:  8;  Phil,  i:  7,  20,  24;  2:  17, 
18;  also  John  10:  11.  The  apostle  mentions  death  first,  because 
to  him  death  seemed  daily  more  probable  than  life.  He  would 
have  loved  to  dwell  among  the  Corinthians  as  James  then  dwelt 
with  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  and  afterwards  John  took  up  his 
abiding-place  at  Corinth,  but  his  duties  as  apostle  to  the  Gentiles 
made  him  a  wanderer.]  4  Great  is  my  boldness  of  speech 
toward  you,  great  is  my  glorying  on  your  behalf:  I  am 
filled  with  comfort,  I  overflow  with  joy  in  all  our 
affliction.  [This  verse  tells  of  Paul's  restored  confidence  in 
the  Corinthians,  and  his  consequent  freedom  of  speech  and 
joyfulness  of  heart.  The  next  few  verses  show  us  that  these 
changes  were  wrought  in  him  by  the  report  which  he  received 
from  Titus  concerning  affairs  at  Corinth.]  5  For  even  when 
we  were  come  into  Macedonia  our  flesh  had  no  relief, 
but  we  were  afflicted  on  every  side  ;  w^ithout  were  fight- 
ings, within  were  fears.  [The  apostle  here  resumes  the 
thread  of  his  narrative  begun  at  2:  12,  13.  For  the  connection 
see  the  comment  on  those  verses.  He  here  tells  us  that  even 
after  he  came  to  Macedonia  his  burdens  were  increased  rather 
than  lightened  ;  for,  in  addition  to  the  fears  and  anxieties  which 
he  felt  concerning  Corinth,  he  became  the  object  of  persecution. 
His  condition,  therefore,  was  less  agreeable  than  at  Troas,  for 
there  he  had  a  full  and  free  opportunity  to  preach  the  gospel.] 
6  Nevertheless  he  that  comforteth  the  lowly,  even  God, 
comforted  us  by  the  coming  of  Titus ;  7  and  not  by  his 
coming  only,  but  also  by  the  comfort  wherewith  he 


206  SECOND  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

w^as  comforted  in  you,  while  he  told  us  your  longing, 
your  mourning,  your  zeal  for  me;  so  that  I  rejoiced  yet 
more.  [The  apostle  was  not  only  refreshed  by  the  presence  of 
Titus,  and  the  report  which  he  brought,  but  he  was  more 
especially  cheered  by  the  visible  satisfaction  of  Titus  with 
regard  to  affairs  at  Corinth.  Paul  regarded  the  feeling  of 
Titus  as  a  more  palpable  proof  of  the  improved  state  of  things 
at  Corinth  than  even  the  substance  of  the  report  which  he 
brought.  Thus  the  consolation  felt  by  Titus  became  trans- 
ferred to  the  heart  of  Paul,  and  the  joyful  manner  in  which 
Titus  gave  his  report,  as  he  told  how  the  Corinthians  longed 
to  see  the  apostle,  how  they  mourned  over  those  things 
which  they  had  done  to  displease  him,  and  what  zeal  they 
showed  to  carry  out  his  instructions,  was  more  to  Paul  than  the 
mere  facts  which  he  narrated.  If  Titus  felt  comfort  or  joy  in 
narrating  these  facts,  Paul  felt  more  joy  in  hearing  them  thus 
narrated.  Or  we  can  take  the  phrase  "yet  more"  as  a  com- 
parison between  his  present  joy  and  his  previous  sorrow.  This 
latter  construction  fits  better  with  what  is  said  in  the  next  two 
verses.]  8  For  though  I  made  you  sorry  with  my  epis- 
tle, I  do  not  regret  it:  though  I  did  regret  it  (for  I  see 
that  that  epistle  made  you  sorry,  though  but  for  a 
season),  9  I  now  rejoice,  not  that  ye  were  made 
sorry,  but  that  ye  were  made  sorry  unto  repentance; 
for  ye  were  made  sorry  after  a  godly  sort,  that  ye 
might  suffer  loss  by  us  in  nothing.  [In  his  first  epistle  to 
the  Corinthians  Paul  had  sternly  rebuked  them.  Though  recog- 
nizing that  the  rebuke  was  well  deserved,  the  apostle  regretted 
that  he  had  written  so  sternly  and  uncompromisingly,  fearing 
lest  his  letter  might  not  work  the  results  which  he  wished,  for 
speaking  what  is  right  does  not  always  lead  to  happy  results 
(John  6:  60-68).  His  words  were  calculated  to  cause  them  the 
sorrow  of  vexation  or  hurt  vanity,  or  the  sorrow  of  mortified 
pride,  etc.  But  when  he  learned  from  Titus  that  it  had  caused 
them  to  sorrow  as  being  culpable  in  the  sight  of  God,  and 
so  caused  them  to  repent  as  he  desired,  the  apostle  was  glad 
that  he  had  written  as  he  had,  for  they  had  lost  nothing  by  rea- 


AN  APPEAL    TO  BE  ACCEPTED  207 

son  of  his  timidity  or  tenderheartedness.  He  had  made  them 
sorry  but  for  a  season,  and  could  now  make  them  glad  by  this 
second  epistle  which  contained  the  consolation  of  his  approval.] 
10  For  godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance  unto  salva- 
tion, a  repentance  which  bringeth  no  regret:  but  the 
sorrow  of  the  world  worketh  death.  [Godly  sorrow  results 
in  repentance,  and  repentance  results  in  salvation,  and  this  result 
is  never  to  be  regretted,  either  by  those  who  attain  it,  or  by  those 
who  have  helped  towards  its  attainment.  While  it  is  true  that  the 
sorrow  of  the  world  tends  toward  despair  and  suicide  and  so 
towards  death,  as  is  witnessed  by  the  cases  of  Saul,  Ahithophel 
and  Judas,  yet  this  is  not  the  apostle's  thought;  he  means  that 
worldly  sorrow  tends  toward  that  eternal  death  which  is  the  an- 
tithesis of  salvation.  This  becomes  apparent  when  we  consider 
that  a  worldly  sorrow,  arising  because  of  and  by  means  of  the 
consequences  of  sin,  tends  to  make  the  sinner  worse  instead  of 
better,  for  it  breeds  in  him  a  boldness,  a  malignant  recklessness 
and  a  morbid  despair  which  tend  to  paralyze  all  efforts  toward 
reformation.]  11  For  behold,  this  selfsame  thing,  that 
ye  were  made  sorry  after  a  godly  sort,  what  earnest  care 
it  wrought  in  you,  yea  what  clearing  of  yourselves,  yea 
what  indignation,  yea  what  fear,  yea  what  longing, 
yea  what  zeal,  yea  what  avenging !  In  everything  ye 
approved  yourselves  to  be  pure  in  the  matter.  [This  very 
selfsame  incident  is  an  example  of  godly  sorrow  worthy  of  your 
consideration.  For  you  see  in  how  many  ways  it  brought 
forth  the  fruit  of  repentance  in  you.  As  to  yourselves,  it  made 
you  most  careful  to  set  yourselves  right  with  God,  and  indig- 
nant with  yourselves  that  you  had  been  so  lax  in  your  disci- 
pline. As  to  me,  it  made  you  fearful  that  I  would  come  with  a 
rod  as  I  had  promised,  and  punish  you,  and  after  you  had 
removed  the  cause  for  such  punishment,  you  felt  a  longing  for 
my  presence.  As  to  the  offender,  it  roused  you  to  aggressive 
action  against  him  to  punish  him  for  having  injured  the  cause  of 
Christ.  Thus,  your  sorrow  worked  a  repentance  which  rested 
not  until  it  had  cleared  your  hands  of  all  blame.  The  apostle  here, 
of  course,  refers  to  the  discipline  of  the  incestuous  person,  which, 


208  SECOND  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

as  he  has  said,  he  made  a  test  case  of  their  obedience  oi 
wiUingness  to  repent  under  his  instruction  (chap.  2:  9).  As  to 
the  phrase  "this  matter,"  it  has  been  well  said  that  Paul,  in 
accordance  with  his  usual  manner,  "speaks  indefinitely  of  what 
is  odious" — I  Thess.  4:  6.]  12  So  although  I  wrote  unto 
you  [for  what  he  had  written,  see  i  Cor.  5:  1-5],  /  wrote  not 
for  his  cause  that  did  the  wrong  {i.  e.,  the  incestuous 
son],  nor  for  his  cause  that  suffered  the  wrong  [/.  e.,  the 
injured  father],  but  that  your  earnest  care  for  us  might  be 
made  manifest  unto  you  in  the  sight  of  God.  [In  writing 
to  you  to  discipline  the  incestuous  man,  I  was  not  moved  by  the 
su-nall  motive  of  setting  to  rights  a  difficulty  between  two  parties, 
though  one  of  them  was  clearly  a  wrongdoer,  and  the  other 
obviously  a  sufferer  by  reason  of  his  wrong-doing.  My  motive 
was  much  larger.  I  wished  you  to  see  that  despite  all  the 
accusations  brought  against  me  to  which  you  gave  ear,  you  still 
show,  by  your  own  conduct,  as  you  view  it  in  the  sight  of  God, 
that  you  know  better  than  to  disobey  me.]  13  Therefore  "we 
have  been  comforted:  and  in  our  comfort  w^e  joyed 
the  more  exceedingly  for  the  joy  of  Titus,  because  his 
spirit  hath  been  refreshed  by  you  all.  [Therefore,  as  we 
have  said  before,  our  anxiety  has  been  removed,  and  we  have 
been  comforted  when  we  have  seen  how  you  have  obeyed  us, 
and  stood  the  test  which  we  imposed  upon  you,  and  our  joy  has 
been  greatly  increased  as  we  have  seen  the  joy  felt  by  Titus  at 
your  conduct.]  14  For  if  in  anything  I  have  gloried 
to  him  on  your  behalf,  I  was  not  put  to  shame;  but  as 
we  spake  all  things  to  you  in  truth,  so  our  glorying  also 
which  I  made  before  Titus  was  found  to  be  truth. 
[Paul  had  evidently  told  Titus  that  he  would  find  the  Corinthi- 
ans true  and  loyal,  and  ready  to  obey  the  apostle's  letter.  Had 
events  proved  otherwise,  Paul  would  have  been  put  to  shame  in 
the  eyes  of  Titus.  But  as  the  apostle,  despite  the  accusations 
of  the  Corinthians  to  the  contrary  (i:  15-17),  had  always  spoken 
truth  to  them,  so  he  had  always  been  truthful  in  speaking  to 
Titus  about  them.  Paul's  affection  for  the  Corinthians  had 
not  caused  him  to  overstep  the  limits  of  perfect  accuracy  while 


AN  APPEAL   rO  BE  ACCEPTED  209 

boasting  of  them  to  Titus.]  15  And  his  affection  is  more 
abundantly  toward  you,  while  he  remembereth  the 
obedience  of  you  all,  how  with  fear  and  trembling  ye 
received  him.  16  I  rejoice  that  in  everything  I  am  of 
good  courage  concerning  you.  [The  affections  which  the 
Corinthians  had  awakened  in  the  heart  of  Titus,  who  had  come 
among  them  and  had  been  received  as  Paul's  messenger, 
greatly  established  the  confidence  of  the  apostle  in  that  church, 
as  he  here  tells  them.  Having  thus  led  up  to  a  well-grounded 
expression  of  confidence,  Paul  makes  it  a  basis  on  which  to  rest 
the  second  division  of  his  epistle — a  division  in  which  he 
appeals  to  them  to  fulfill  their  promises  with  regard  to  the 
collection  for  the  poor  at  Jerusalem.] 


210  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 


PART     SECOND. 

8:  1-9:  15. 

CONCERNING  THE   COLLECTION    FOR   THE 
JERUSALEM   CHURCH. 

I. 

THE  COLLECTION  AND  THE  MESSENGERS 
IN  CHARGE  OF  IT. 

8:  1-24. 

[In  this  section  Paul  exhorts  the  Corinthians  to  proceed  with 
the  collection  for  the  poor  of  the  Jerusalem  church.  For 
Paul's  instructions  in  regard  to  this  collection,  and  the  reasons 
for  it,  see  i  Cor.  16:  1-3,  and  notes  thereon.]  1  Moreover, 
brethren,  we  make  known  to  you  the  grace  of  God 
which  hath  been  given  in  the  churches  of  Macedonia; 
2  how  that  in  much  proof  of  affliction  the  abundance 
of  their  joy  and  their  deep  poverty  abounded  unto 
the  riches  of  their  liberality.  [The  only  Macedonian 
churches  known  to  us  were  those  at  Philippi,  Thessalonica 
and  Beroea.  The  district  of  Macedonia  had  suffered  in  the 
three  civil  wars,  and  had  been  reduced  to  such  poverty  that 
Tiberius  Caesar,  hearkening  to  their  petitions,  had  lightened 
their  taxes.  But  in  addition  to  this  general  poverty,  the 
churches  had  been  made  poor  by  persecution  (2  Thess.  1:4). 
This  poverty  put  their  Christian  character  to  the  proof,  and 
Paul  wishes  the  Corinthians  to  know,  that  they  may  be  benefited 
by  the  example,  how  nobly  the  Macedonians  endured  the 
proof.  Despite  their  afflictions  they  were  so  filled  with  the 
grace  of  God  that  their  joy  abounded  and  worked  positively  in 
combination  with  their  abysmal  poverty,  which  worked  nega- 
tively to  manifest  the  extreme  riches  of  their  liberality.]  3  For 


THE    COLLECTION  211 

according  to  their  power,  I  bear  witness,  yea  and 
beyond  their  power,  they  gave  of  their  own  accord,  4  be- 
seeching us  with  much  entreaty  in  regard  of  this  grace 
and  the  fellowship  in  the  ministering  to  the  saints:  5 
and  this,  not  as  we  had  hoped,  but  first  they  gave  their 
own  selves  to  the  Lord,  and  to  us  through  the  will  of 
God.  [The  apostle  here  sets  forth  the  Hberahty  of  the  Mace- 
donians, and  shows  that  of  their  own  accord,  and  without  any 
entreaty  on  his  part,  they  gave,  not  only  according  to  their 
means,  but  even  beyond  their  means.  When  he,  recognizing 
that  they  were  giving  beyond  their  means,  sought  to  restrain 
them,  they  laid  siege  to  him  with  persistent  entreaty,  both 
that  they  might  be  allowed  to  exercise  the  grace  of  liberality 
which  God  had  put  in  their  hearts,  and  that  they  might  have 
fellowship  in  so  worthy  a  work  as  ministering  to  the  needs  of 
God's  people.  The  apostle,  knowing  their  poverty,  had  hoped 
for  but  little  from  them,  but  they  had  exceeded  all  his  expecta- 
tions, for  (and  here  was  the  secret  of  their  liberality)  they  had 
surrend^ered  their  will  to  the  will  of  God,  so  that  before 
attempting  to  give  their  money  they  had  first  given  themselves 
to  the  Lord,  and  to  the  apostle  as  the  Lord's  servant.]  6  In- 
somuch that  w^e  exhorted  Titus,  that  as  he  had  made  a 
beginning  before,  so  he  would  also  complete  in  you 
this  grace  also.  [Inspired  by  the  example  of  the  Macedoni- 
ans, Paul  was  moved  to  exhort  Titus  to  return  to  Corinth,  that 
having  begun  the  work  of  gathering  an  offering  from  the 
church  there,  he  might  continue  until  the  Corinthians  made  a 
liberal  offering.]  7  But  as  ye  abound  in  everything,  in 
faith,  and  utterance,  and  knowledge,  and  in  all  earnest- 
ness, and  in  your  love  to  us,  see  that  ye  abound  in  this 
grace  also.  8  I  speak  not  by  way  of  commandment, 
but  as  proving  through  the  earnestness  of  others 
the  sincerity  also  of  your  love.  [Paul  here  speaks  of  Hber- 
ahty as  a  grace  or  gift  of  the  Spirit.  Paul  testifies  that  the 
Corinthians  abounded  in  spiritual  gifts  (i  Cor.  4:  7).  He  here 
reminds  them  of  some  of  these  prominent  gifts,  and  exhorted 
them  to  add  thereto  the  gift  of  liberality,  and  to  make  it  con- 


212  SECOND  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

spicuous  among  the  other  gifts  by  its  perfection.     He  does  not 
command  them  to  give,  for  the  very  virtue  or  value  of  giving 
lies  in  its  spontaneity,  but,  using  the  case  of  the  Macedonians 
as  an  example  or  means  of  comparison,   he  measures  or  tests 
the  love  of  the  Corinthians   by   it.]     9    For   ye    know   the 
grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that,  though  he  was 
rich,   yet   for    your    sakes    he    became   poor,   that  ye 
through  his  poverty  might  become  rich.     [In  making  lib- 
erality the  test  of  love,  Paul  is  reminded  of  that  supreme  love  of 
Christ  and  the  test  which  it  endured.     The  grace  of  liberality 
in  Jesus  caused  him  to  lay   aside   his  glory,  and  those  other 
attributes  of  his  divinity  which  were  not  compatible  with  his 
being  made  flesh,  and  took  upon  him  our  poor  and  despised 
humanity,  that  he  might  enrich  it  with  all  that  he  had  surren- 
dered.    The  words  here   should   be   compared   with   Phil.   2: 
5-1 1.     What  Christ  gave  up  for  us  becomes  to  us  a  criterion  for 
giving.     The  love  which  promoted  such  a  sacrifice  should  con- 
strain us  to  sacrifice  for  others.]     10  And  herein  I  give  my 
judgment:  for  this  is  expedient  for  you,  who  were  the 
first  to  make  a  beginning  a  year  ago,  not  only  to  do, 
but  also  to  will.     [I  do  not,  as  I  have  said,  command  you  to 
give,  but  I  think  that,  having  undertaken  the  work,  you  should 
complete  your  collection.     If  it  was  a  mere  matter  of  doing,  I 
would  command  you,  but,   as  it  is  a  matter  of  willing,  I  can 
only  advise   you,   therefore   I  do  advise  you  to  willingly  give 
(ch.  9:  7).     As  Paul    wrote    soon   after  the  beginning  of    the 
Jewish  year,  the  phrase  "a  year  ago"  might  mean  only  a  few 
months.     But    the    mention   of    this  collection  in    Paul's   first 
Epistle  shows  that  the  Corinthians  had  had  it  in  mind  for  more 
than  six  months.]     11  But  now  complete  the  doing  also; 
that  as  there  was  the  readiness  to  will,  so  there  may  be 
the  completion  also  out  of  your  ability.     12  For  if  the 
readiness  is  there,  it  is  acceptable  according  as  a  man 
hath,    not  according  as  he  hath  not.     [As  you  once  had 
the  willingness  to  give,  let  your   will  perfect  itself  in  doing, 
and  take  up  the  collection  according  to  your  ability  to  give,  for 
if  a  nian  is  willing  to  give,  God  accepts  the  gift,  not  valuing  it 


THE   COLLECTION  213 

according  to  its  magnitude,  but  according  to  the  proportion 
which  it  bears  to  the  means  in  the  possession  of  the  giver.] 
13  For  /  say  not  this  that  others  may  be  eased  and 
ye  distressed;  14  but  by  equality:  your  abundance  being 
a  supply  at  this  present  time  for  their  want,  that  their 
abundance  also  may  become  a  supply  for  your  want; 
that  there  may  be  equality  [The  apostle  did  not  take 
money  from  the  Corinthians  for  the  purpose  of  impoverishing 
them  and  enriching  the  church  at  Jerusalem:  his  idea  was  that 
the  abundance  enjoyed  by  the  Corinthians  might  be  withdrawn 
from  their  side  of  the  scales  and  placed  in  the  Jerusalem  side, 
so  that  the  scales  might  balance — not  a  literal  balancing,  but 
such  a  one  as  would  insure  that  those  at  Jerusalem  would  not 
suffer  because  of  their  poverty.  And  he  did  this  with  the 
expectation  and  understanding  that  whenever  conditions  were 
reversed,  those  at  Jerusalem  would  donate  their  superfluity  to 
the  support  of  Corinth.  That  such  equality  is  approved  of 
God,  was  shown  by  the  manner  in  which  he  meted  out  his 
manna,  as  appears  by  the  citation  in  the  next  verse]:  15  as  it 
is  written  [Ex.  i6:  17,  18],  He  tha.t  gathered  much  had 
nothing  over;  and  he  that  gathered  little  had  no  lack. 
[In  the  gathering  of  the  manna  some  of  the  IsraeHtes  were  able 
to.  find  more  than  the  others,  but  when  they  came  to.  measure 
what  they  gathered,  God's  providence  so  intervened  and  ordered 
that  each  found  he  had  an  omer.  Now  that  which  God  effect- 
ed by  irresistible  law  under  the  old  dispensation,  he  was  now 
seeking  to  effect  under  the  new  dispensation  through  the 
gracious  influence  of  brotherly  love.  Our  differences  in  ability 
make  it  inevitable  that  some  shall  surpass  others  in  the  gath- 
ering of  wealth;  but  as  selfishness  gives  place  to  Christian  love, 
the  inequality  in  earthly  possessions  will  become  more  even.] 
16  But  thanks  be  to  God,  who  putteth  the  same  ear- 
nest care  for  you  into  the  heart  of  Titus.  17  For  he 
accepted  indeed  our  exhortation;  but  being  himself 
very  earnest,  he  ^vent  forth  unto  you  of  his  own  ac- 
cord. [The  apostle  thanks  God  that  he  had  given  to  Titus  the 
same  desire  to  benefit  the  Corinthians  which  animated  Paul 
15 


214   SECOND  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

himself,  so  that  Titus  not  only  accepted  the  apostle's  exhorta- 
tion to  go  back  to  Corinth  and  induce  them  to  take  up  the  col- 
lection, but  was  even  ready  of  his  own  accord  to  undertake  the 
work.]  18  And  we  have  sent  together  with  him  the 
brother  whose  praise  in  the  gospel  is  spread  through 
all  the  churches  [Baynes,  in  his  "Horas  Lucanse,"  argues 
very  conclusively  that  this  was  Luke.  He  was  at  Philippi  about 
this  time,  and  was  among  those  who  accompanied  Paul  from 
Macedonia  (or  perhaps  Corinth)  to  Jerusalem  (Acts  20:  2-6). 
The  phrase  "in  the  gospel"  can  hardly  be  taken  as  indicating 
that  at  this  time  Luke  had  written  his  Gospel,  but  the  Gospel 
which  he  wrote  is  evidently  not  the  work  of  a  day.  No  doubt 
at  this  time  Luke  was  so  versed  in  the  gospel  history  as  to  be 
fittingly  described  by  the  words  here  used  by  Paul];  19  and 
not  only  so,  but  who  was  also  appointed  by  the 
churches  to  travel  with  us  in  the  matter  of  this  grace, 
which  is  ministered  by  us  to  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and 
to  show  our  readiness  [Paul  is  commending  those  whom  he 
sent  to  gather  the  collections.  Luke's  primary  commendation 
is  his  general  character  revealed  in  his  love  for  the  gospel  facts; 
his  further  qualification  is  his  appointment  by  the  churches  in 
Macedonia  to  assist  in  this  very  work.  He  had  resided  in 
Macedonia  for  some  six  years,  or  since  Paul  had  first  come  to 
Philippi,  and  so  was  well  known  and  fully  trusted  by  the  Mace- 
donians. He  was  appointed  that  the  glory  of  Christ  might  not 
be  tarnished  by  any  suspicion  that  the  money  was  raised  for 
selfish  purposes,  and  that  Paul's  zeal  to  raise  the  money  might 
not  be  regarded  with  evil  surmises]:  20  avoiding  this,  that 
any  man  should  blame  us  in  the  matter  of  this  bounty 
which  is  ministered  by  us:  21  for  we  take  thought  for 
things  honorable,  not  only  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord, 
but  also  in  the  sight  of  men.  [Paul  welcomed  the 
appointment  of  assistance  in  this  work,  for  their  co-operation 
lifted  him  above  suspicion,  which  was  according  to  his  desire, 
for  he  wished  not  only  to  have  a  good  character  in  the  sight  of 
God,  but  also  a  fair  reputation  among  men.]  22  And  we 
have  sent  with  them  our  brother,  whom  we  have  many 


THE   COLLECTION  215 

times  proved  earnest  in  many  things,  but  now  much 
more  earnest,  by  reason  of  the  great  confidence  which 
he  hath  in  you.  [As  to  this  third  party,  Alford  well  says, 
"Every  possible  person  has  been  guessed."  There  is  no 
means  of  determining  who  it  was.  Paul's  words  show  that  he 
had  been  often  used  by  the  apostle  because  of  his  earnestness, 
and  that  he  was  employed  in  this  work  because  he  evident- 
ly knew  and  had  great  confidence  in  the  Corinthians.]  23 
Whether  any  inquire  about  Titus,  he  is  my  partner  and 
my  fellow-worker  to  you-ward;  or  our  brethren,  they 
are  the  messengers  of  the  churches,  they  are  the  glory 
of  Christ.  24  Show  ye  therefore  unto  them  in  the 
face  of  the  churches  the  proof  of  your  love,  and  of  our 
glorying  on  your  behalf.  [As  a  final  commendation,  and 
as  one  calculated  to  stop  the  mouths  of  all  objectors,  Paul  de- 
scribes Titus  as  a  partner  with  himself  in  raising  the  contribu- 
tion of  Corinth,  and  he  describes  the  other  two  who  went  with 
Titus  as  not  only  messengers  of  the  churches  in  this  behalf,  but 
as  men  whose  daily  life  glorified  the  Master  whom  they  served. 
In  view,  therefore,  of  the  fitness  of  those  whom  he  sent  to  them, 
Paul  asks  the  Corinthian  church  to  raise  the  collection  under 
their  direction  as  an  evidence  of  the  general  benevolence  of 
their  disposition,  and  as  a  proof  that  he  spoke  the  truth  when 
he  boasted  of  their  liberality.] 


II. 

EXHORTATION   TO  HAVE   HIS   BOASTING 
SUSTAINED. 

9:  1-15. 

1  For  as  touching  the  ministering  to  the  saints,  it 
is  superfluous  for  me  to  write  to  you:  2  for  I  know 
your  readiness,  of  which  I  glory  on  your  behalf  to  them 
of  Macedonia,  that  Achaia  hath  been  prepared  for  a 
year  past;  and  your  zeal  hath  stirred  up  very  many 
of  them.     [It  is  needless  for  me  to  urge  upon  you  the  fact  that 


216    SECOND  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

it  is  a  becoming  thing  in  you  to  minister  to  the  poor  in  the 
churches,  for  you  have  long  since  acknowledged  the  becoming- 
ness  of  the  deed  by  pledging  yourself  to  do  it.  And  this  readi- 
ness on  your  part  I  have  used  with  great  effect  in  Macedonia, 
for  I  told  them  how  last  year  you  consented  to  take  this  collec- 
tion, so  that  many  of  them,  feeling  their  tardiness  in  comparison 
with  you,  have  been  stirred  to  great  activity  and  zeal  in  this 
matter.]  3  But  I  have  sent  the  brethren  [Titus  and  the 
other  two],  that  our  glorying  on  your  behalf  may 
not  be  made  void  in  this  respect;  that,  even  as  I  said, 
ye  may  be  prepared:  4  lest  by  any  means,  if  there 
come  with  me  any  of  Macedonia  and  find  you  unpre- 
pared, we  (that  we  say  not,  ye)  should  be  put  to  shame 
in  this  confidence.  [I  have  gloried  or  boasted  concerning 
you  in  many  respects,  and  have  hitherto  had  to  retract  nothing 
which  I  said.  That  my  glorying  concerning  your  liberality 
may  not  prove  an  exception  and  require  a  retraction,  I  have 
sent  these  messengers  that  they  might  gather  together  the  col- 
lection which  you  pledged,  and  perhaps  began  to  take  up  last 
year.  For  if  any  Macedonians  should  come  with  me  to  Cor- 
inth and  find  the  collection  ungathered,  I  would  be  ashamed  for 
having  represented  you  as  better  than  you  were,  and  you  would 
be  ashamed  of  having  been  held  up  as  a  model  for  the  emu- 
lation of  those  who  were,  in  fact,  better  than  you.]  5  I 
thought  it  necessary  therefore  to  entreat  the  brethren, 
that  they  would  go  before  unto  you,  and  make  up  be- 
forehand [z.  e.,  before  my  coming]  your  afore-promised 
bounty,  that  the  same  might  be  ready  as  a  matter  of 
bounty,  and  not  of  extortion.  [I.  sent  these  messengers  on 
before  me  that  they  might  stir  you  up  to  gather  the  collection  be- 
fore I  came,  that  the  offering  might  be  seen  to  be  your  own  free 
gift  and  not  a  veritable  tax  extorted  from  you  by  the  fear  of  my 
displeasure  and  your  shame  at  being  exposed  in  your  selfish- 
ness.] 6  But  this  /  say.  He  that  soweth  sparingly  shall 
reap  also  sparingly;  and  he  that  soweth  bountifully 
shall  reap  also  bountifully.  [The  same  law  which  pertains 
to  the  physical  world  pertains  with  equal  effect  in  the  moral 


THE   COLLECTION  217 

and  spiritual  realm,  so  that  those  who  are  stingy  and  niggardly 
in  giving  to  others,  shall  receive  scantily  of  the  blessings 
bestowed  by  God.]  7  Let  each  man  do  according  as  he 
hath  purposed  in  his  heart:  not  grudgingly  [literally, 
of  sorrow],  or  of  necessity:  for  God  loveth  a  cheerful 
giver.  [Let  each  man  give  as  his  own  heart  prompts  him  and 
not  as  improperly  influenced  by  others.  Let  no  one  give  as  if 
half  crying  to  part  with  his  money,  and  let  no  one  feel  con- 
strained to  give  from  any  motives  of  necessity,  such  as  popular 
applause,  or  to  keep  up  with  his  neighbors,  or  to  be  rid  of  the 
solicitations  of  some  urgent  collector.  Such  giving  is  valueless 
in  the  sight  of  God,  who  values  gifts  only  as  they  are  really  and 
truly  such,  and  in  no  way  extortions.  The  spirit  of  extortion 
is  sorrow,  but  that  of  giving  is  cheerfulness.]  8  And  God  is 
able  to  make  all  grace  abound  unto  you;  that  ye,  hav- 
ing always  all  sufficiency  in  everything,  may  abound 
unto  every  good  work:  9  as  it  is  written,  He  hath 
scattered  abroad,  he  hath  given  to  the  poor;  His  right- 
eousness abideth  for  ever.  [Ps.  112:  9.  God  is  able  to 
bestow  every  blessing,  both  temporal  and  spiritual,  and  so  he 
can  give  blessings  to  those  who  dispense  them,  and  thus  enable 
them  to  abound  in  good  works  which  they  are  performing. 
That  this  is  true  is  shown  by  the  Psalmist's  description  of  the 
man  who  fears  the  Lord.  Such  a  man  is  profuse  in  his  liberal- 
ity and  his  remembrance  of  the  poor,  and  he  is  able  to  keep 
up  his  right-doing  in  giving,  for  the  Lord  continually  supplies 
him  with  means  to  that  end.  We  should,  however,  note  that 
Paul's  words  here,  Hke  those  at  Ps.  91:  11,  12,  which  Satan 
quoted  to  the  Lord  in  his  temptation  (Matt.  4:  6),  are  not  to 
be  so  interpreted  and  applied  as  to  tempt  the  Lord.]  10  And 
he  that  supplieth  seed  to  the  sower  and  bread  for  food, 
shall  supply  and  multiply  your  seed  for  sowing, 
and  increase  the  fruits  of  your  righteousness  [and 
he  that,  in  the  economy  of  nature,  makes  returns  to  the  sower, 
so  that  he  not  only  has  his  seed  again,  but  bread  for  food,  shall 
in  like  manner  in  the  domain  of  grace,  supply  and  multiply  the 
seeds  of  charity  which  you  sow,  so  that  you  will  not  only  be  able 


218    SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

to  do  again  the  deed  of  charity  which  you  have  done,  but  he 
will  also  bless  all  your  other  acts  of  righteousness  by  making  them 
fruitful]:  11  ye  being  enriched  in  everything  unto  all  liber- 
ality, which  worketh  through  us  thanksgiving  to  God. 
[Thus,  your  liberality  multiplies  your  means  of  liberality,  and 
also  works,  through  the  agents  which  dispense  it,  thanksgiving 
to  God  from  the  poor  in  Jerusalem  who  receive  it.]  12  For  the 
ministration  of  this  service  not  only  filleth  up  the 
measure  of  the  wants  of  the  saints,  but  aboundeth  also 
through  many  thanksgivings  unto  God;  13  seeing  that 
through  the  proving  of  you  by  this  ministration  they 
glorify  God  for  the  obedience  of  your  confession  unto 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  for  the  liberality  of  your  con- 
tribution unto  them,  and  unto  all;  14  while  they  them- 
selves also,  with  supplication  on  your  behalf,  long 
after  you  by  reason  of  the  exceeding  grace  of  God 
in  you.  [This  ministry  of  yours,  in  giving  to  the  poor  at 
Jerusalem,  not  only  fills  up  the  measure  of  the  wants  of  these 
people  of  God,  but  overflows  that  measure,  for  it  results  in 
many  thanksgivings  to  God.  And  these  results  are  evident, 
for  by  thus  showing  your  liberality  to  the  Jewish  church  at 
Jerusalem,  you  prove  to  it  that  you  are  indeed  true  and  obedi- 
ent to  your  confession  of  your  faith  in  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and 
thus  cause  them  to  glorify  God,  as  they  also  do  for  the  liber- 
ality of  your  contribution  unto  them  and  (potentially)  unto  all. 
You  cause  them  also  to  pray  for  you  and  long  to  see  you  face  to 
face,  that  they  may  know  those  in  whom  God's  grace  abounds 
to  so  full  a  measure.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  church 
in  Jerusalem,  influenced  by  the  prejudices  of  the  Jews  which 
surrounded  it,  and  also  by  the  sentiments  and  feelings  which  it 
inherited  from  its  previous  life,  looked  upon  the  church  as 
planted  by  Paul,  with  eyes  full  of  suspicion.  They  regarded  these 
churches  as  lawless  bodies,  inimical  to  all  that  the  Jews  held 
as  ancient  or  sacred.  They  were  ready  to  believe  any  wild 
rumor  which  might  start  with  regard  to  the  unchristian  char- 
acter of  the  apostle's  converts,  and  the  reckless  lawlessness  of 
the  apostle  himself.     The  riot   which   arose  soon  after  when 


THE   COLLECTION  219 

Paul  was  found  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  aptly  illustrates  the 
attitude  of  the  Jewish  mind  toward  him  and  his  work.  Now 
the  apostle  felt  confident  that  a  liberal  gift  from  his  Gentile 
churches  would  bring  about  a  better  understanding,  and  would 
work  wonderful  changes  in  the  thoughts  of  Jewish  Christians. 
He  felt  that  it  would  persuade  the  latter  that  his  Gentile  con- 
verts were  truly  obedient  to  the  religion  which  they  confessed, 
and  that  it  would  persuade  them  also  that  those  who  had  over- 
come their  prejudices  sufficiently  to  give  liberally  to  Jews  would 
have  no  prejudices  which  would  prevent  them  from  giving  lib- 
erally to  other  people.  He  was  likewise  confident  that  the 
Jewish  Christians,  seeing  these  things,  would  be  fully  per- 
suaded of  the  genuine  Christian  grace  of  his  converts,  and 
therefore  would  not  only  pray  for  them,  but  even  long  for  per- 
sonal acquaintance  and  fellowship  with  them.  How  far  the 
apostle  was  correct  in  this  judgment  we  can  not  say;  but  he 
certainly  seems  to  have  been  well  received  by  the  Christians  at 
Jerusalem  when  he  came  as  the  representative  of  these  Gentile 
churches.  If  the  attitude  of  the  unchristian  Jewish  mind  toward 
him  was  still  relentlessly  bitter,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  he 
took  no  collection  for  them,  and  that  they  were  in  no  manner  in 
his  thought  in  this  connection.]  15  Thanks  be  to  God  for 
his  unspeakable  gift.  [Of  course,  the  Christ  himself  is  God's 
great  gift  to  man,  but  the  personality  of  Christ  is  not  in  the 
trend  of  Paul's  argument.  The  thought  that  fills  his  mind  is 
that  the  Corinthians,  by  their  liberality,  are  showing  themselves 
truly  changed  and  converted  by  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  that 
this  gospel,  modifying  and  softening  the  Jewish  mind,  is  pre- 
paring it  to  step  over  the  middle  wall  of  partition,  and  receive 
the  Gentiles  as  part  of  the  family  of  God.  For  the  unspeakable 
gift,  therefore,  of  a  gospel  which  works  such  blessed  changes 
in  the  bigoted,  stubborn  and  selfish  hearts  of  men,  Paul  gives 
thanks.  The  thanksgiving,  therefore,  is  proximately  for  the 
gospel  and  ultimately  for  Christ,  the  author  of  the  gospel.] 


220    SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS 


PART  THIRD. 

lo:  1-13:  14. 

PAUL   MEASURES   OR   COMPARES   HIMSELF 

WITH   HIS   CHIEF  OPPOSERS   OR 

OTHER   DETRACTORS. 

I. 

FOES,  WEAPONS   AND   MEASUREMENTS. 

10:  1-18. 

[The  two  previous  parts  of  this  epistle  have  been  mainly 
addressed  to  that  portion  of  the  congregation  at  Corinth  which 
was  loyal  to  the  apostle.  This  third  part,  however,  is  especially 
addressed  to  his  enemies,  though  he  at  times  evidently  speaks  to 
his  friends.  The  apostle  in  neither  case  formally  indicated 
which  party  he  was  addressing,  for  he  rightly  assumed  that 
each  would  wisely  appropriate  to  itself  the  sentiments  which 
properly  belonged  to  it.]  1  Now  I  Paul  myself  entreat  you 
by  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ,  I  who  in 
your  presence  am  lowly  among  you,  but  being  absent 
am  of  good  courage  toward  you:  2  yea,  I  beseech  you, 
that  I  may  not  when  present  show  courage  with  the 
confidence  wherewith  I  count  to  be  bold  against  some, 
who  count  of  us  as  if  we  walked  according  to  the 
flesh.  [Hitherto  the  aposde  had  associated  Timothy  as  a 
joint  author  of  this  letter,  but  as  he  now  prepares  to  deal  with 
his  enemies  and  matters  personal  to  himself,  he  disengages 
himself  from  all  entangling  fellowships  and  steps  forth  alone  to 
defend  his  name  and  influence.  That  there  may  be  no  doubt 
as  to  his  purpose  in  thus  standing  alone,  and  that  his  enemies 
may  understand  the  spirit  in  which  he  presents  himself  before 
them,  he  quotes  their  own  belittling  description  of  him:  for  they 
had  described  him  as  a  coward  who  threatened  and  thundered 


FOES,    WEAPONS  AND  MEASUREMENTS    221 

when  absent,  but  was  meek  and  lowly  enough  when  present. 
Accepting  for  the  moment  this  false  estimate  of  himself,  he 
beseeches  them  by  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ  (for 
Jesus  ever  preferred  gentleness  to  severity)  that  they  may 
so  amend  their  conduct  as  to  make  their  estimate  of  him  true 
thus  far;  viz.:  that  at  his  coming  he  may  indeed  be  permitted 
to  show  them  gentleness,  and  may  not,  as  he  now  confidently 
expected,  be  compelled  to  show  his  severity  toward  those  who 
accused  him  of  conducting  himself  as  an  unprincipled  world- 
ling.] 3  For  though  we  walk  in  the  flesh,  we  do  not 
w^ar  according  to  the  flesh  4  (for  the  w^eapons  of  our 
warfare  are  not  of  the  flesh,  but  mighty  before  God  to 
the  casting  down  of  strongholds);  5  casting  down 
imaginations,  and  every  high  thing  that  is  exalted 
against  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  bringing  every 
thought  into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of  Christ;  6 
and  being  in  readiness  to  avenge  all  disobedience, 
when  your  obedience  shall  be  made  full.  [For  though 
we  are  indeed  human,  we  do  not  contend  after  a  human  or 
worldly  fashion  (for  our  weapons  are  not  slander,  detraction, 
misrepresentation,  etc.,  which  are  the  methods  employed  by 
the  world  in  overcoming  opponents,  but  we  use  divine  powers 
in  our  conflicts  (i  Cor.  4:  19-21;  5:  5),  powers  which  are  mighty 
in  the  sight  of  God  to  tear  down  defenses),  and  which  can 
cast  down  all  false  human  reasonings,  sophistries  and  vain 
deductions,  and  every  like  thing  which  men  presumptuously 
rear  in  opposition  to  the  word  of  God,  and  which  can  bring 
every  rebellious  thought  into  captivity,  so  that  it  shall  obey 
Christ.  With  this  power,  therefore,  I  am  ready  to  come  to 
punish  all  the  disobedient;  but  I  pause  that  all  who  desire  to 
repent  may  do  so,  and  after  the  number  of  the  obedient  is  made 
full  I  will  punish  the  rebelHous  remnant  that  remain.  In  verse 
4  Paul  evidently  alludes  to  the  crow,  a  large  military  engine 
with  a  great  claw  to  it,  which  was  used  to  pull  down  the  walls 
of  castles,  forts  and  other  strongholds.  Stanley  thinks  that  Paul 
has  in  mind  in  this  passage  certain  mihtary  operations  which 
occurred  in   Cilicia,  the  province  in  which  he  was  born.     In 


222  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS 

the  hills  and  mountains  of  that  locality,  certain  bands  of  pirates 
and  robbers  entrenched  themselves,  and  for  awhile  withstood 
the  Roman  arms.  Cicero  made  some  headway  in  suppressing 
them,  and  on  his  return  was  honored  with  a  Roman  triumph, 
but  the  final  victory  was  achieved  by  Pompey  the  generation 
before  Paul  was  born.  Pompey  made  great  use  of  the  crow, 
for  he  pulled  down  one  hundred  and  twenty  fortresses.  But 
the  crow  was  then  in  as  general  use  as  the  cannon  is  now,  and 
a  writer  would  hardly  be  thought  to  refer  to  Gettysburg  if  he 
happened  to  use  cannonading  as  a  figure  of  speech.  However, 
Pompey 's  campaign  is  a  useful  bit  of  history,  for  it  shows  us 
how  forceful  the  figure  was  which  Paul  employed.]  7  Ye 
look  at  the  things  that  are  before  your  face.  If  any 
man  trusteth  in  himself  that  he  is  Christ's,  let  him 
consider  this  again  with  himself,  that,  even  as  he  is 
Christ's,  so  also  are  we.  [You  false  teachers  who  oppose  me 
view  things  very  shallowly  and  superficially,  for  ye  deem  your- 
selves to  be  Christ's  because  ye  came  from  Judaea,  or  perhaps 
have  seen  him,  or  been  present  with  him  during  a  large  part  of 
his  ministry  (Acts  i:  21,  22);  and  ye  make  bold  to  reject  us  as 
his  because  we  seem  to  have  been  denied  these  privileges,  fail- 
ing to  notice  that  our  claims  to  be  the  Lord's  are  (at  the  least!) 
equal  to  yours.  If  they  were  apostles  merely  because  they  had 
seen  the  Lord,  so  also  was  Paul,  and  in  addition  he  had,  what 
they  did  not,  a  direct,  official  appointment  from  Christ  (Acts  9: 
15),  a  recognition  from  the  twelve  (Acts  15:  25),  and  a  compact 
or  arrangement  with  them  regarding  the  division  of  their  work 
—Gal.  2:  9.]  8  For  though  I  should  glory  somewhat 
abundantly  concerning  our  authority  (which  the  Lord 
gave  for  building  you  up,  and  not  for  casting  you 
down),  I  shall  not  be  put  to  shame:  9  that  I  may  not 
seem  as  if  I  would  terrify  you  by  my  letters.  10  For, 
His  letters,  they  say  [a  general  expression,  equivalent  to 
"it  is  said"],  are  weighty  and  strong;  but  his  bodily 
presence  is  weak,  and  his  speech  of  no  account. 
[Now  even  if  I  boast  most  freely  that  my  authority  is  greater 
than  yours,  my  boasting  will  not  bring  shame  upon  me  if  you 


FOES,    WEAPONS  AND  MEASUREMENTS     223 

put  mc  to  the  test.  You  will  find  that  I  am  not  terrible  in  let" 
ters  alone,  but  also  in  my  presence,  and  you  will  find  how 
falsely  you  have  spoken  when  you  said  that  my  letters  were  the 
only  part  of  me  calculated  to  cause  fear.  However,  I  shall  re- 
gret to  thus  demonstrate  my  power  against  you,  for  God  gave  me 
this  power  to  use  rather  in  building  you  up  than  in  tearing  you 
down.  The  apostle  thus  draws  a  subtle  contrast  between  him- 
self and  his  adversaries,  for  they  had  delighted  in  destructive 
rather  than  constructive  works.]  11  Let  such  a  one  reckon 
this,  that,  what  we  are  in  w^ord  by  letters  when  w^e  are 
absent,  such  are  we  also  in  deed  when  w^e  are  present. 
12  For  w^e  are  not  bold  to  number  or  compare  our- 
selves with  certain  of  them  that  commend  themselves: 
but  they  themselves,  measuring  themselves  by  them- 
selves, and  comparing  themselves  with  themselves,  are 
w^ithout  understanding.  [Let  all  who  thus  accuse  me  of 
cowardice  know  assuredly  that  when  I  come  my  deeds  will  com- 
port with  the  threatenings  and  warnings  in  my  letters.  I  have  in 
no  way  exaggerated  my  authority  or  power  in  my  writing  to  you, 
for  in  this  art  of  exaggerated  self-praise  or  self-commendation 
I  am  not  the  equal  of  the  false  leaders  in  Corinth.  In  this  art  I 
am  not  so  proficient  that  I  can  presume  to  measure  myself  with 
these  Corinthian  experts,  for  they,  never  looking  outside  their 
own  narrow  circle,  but  comparing  themselves  with  each  other, 
have  swelled  with  an  inflated  sense  of  self-importance  which 
would  have  long  since  been  punctured  so  that  it  would  have 
collapsed  if  they  had  brought  themselves  into  comparison  with 
the  real  apostles.  Real  worth  can  never  speak  so  highly  of  it- 
self as  can  conceited  and  unreasoning  vanity.  Those  who 
compare  themselves  with  Christ  lose  that  self-exaltation  which 
belongs  to  those  who  compare  themselves  only  with  men,  hence 
they  are  too  handicapped  to  enter  into  competition  with  any 
such  in  the  matter  of  boasting.]  13  But  we  will  not  glory 
beyond  our  measure,  but  according  to  the  measure 
of  the  province  which  God  apportioned  to  us  as  a 
measure,  to  reach  even  unto  you.  [Paul  got  no  false 
idea  of  his  own  stature  by  measuring  himself  with  other  men; 


224   SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

but  as  the  most  apt  measure  for  the  point  to  be  determined, 
viz.:  his  stature  or  capacity  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  he  chose 
the  province  or  territory  which  God  had  assigned  him  as  his 
field  of  operation.  Though  the  whole  world  was  his  bishopric 
(Gal.  2:  7-9),  yet  he  contents  himself  with  saying  it  included 
Corinth.  In  the  eyes  of  his  opponents  Corinth  was  the  sum  and 
center  of  all  things,  but  in  the  larger  life  of  Paul  it  was  a  mere 
dot  in  a  limitless  field  of  operations.  See  11:  28.]  14  For  we 
stretch  not  ourselves  overmuch,  as  though  we  reached 
not  unto  you:  for  w^e  came  even  as  far  as  unto  you  in  the 
gospel  of  Christ:  15  not  glorying  beyond  our  measure, 
that  is,  in  other  men's  labors;  but  having  hope  that,  as 
your  faith  groweth,  w^e  shall  be  magnified  in  you 
according  to  our  province  unto  further  abundance,  16 
so  as  to  preach  the  gospel  even  unto  the  parts  beyond 
you,  and  not  to  glory  in  another's  province  in  regard 
of  things  ready  to  our  hand.  [Though  God  gave  us  so 
vast  a  bishopric,  we  indeed  filled  so  much  of  it  as  to  reach  you. 
We  were  not  so  much  smaller  than  this  bishopric  which  God 
gave  to  us,  that  we  had  to  stretch  ourselves  to  cover  it.  To 
make  a  show  of  covering  our  territory  we  did  not  need  to  take 
possession  of  other  men's  labors  and  claim  the  fruits  of  their 
ministry,  as  though  they  wrought  as  our  agents.  If  we  had 
done  this,  we  would  indeed  be  glorying  beyond  our  measure. 
But  thus  far  (i.  e.,  as  far  as  unto  you)  we  have  covered  the 
province  assigned  to  us,  and  we  have  a  hope  that  as  your  faith 
groweth,  and  ye  become  subject  to  Christ  through  being 
subject  to  his  true  ministers,  we  ourselves  shall  grow  and  be 
magnified  so  that  we  shall  more  nearly  attain  to  the  magnitude 
of  our  great  province.  At  present  your  vacillation  and  infidel- 
ity confine  our  labors  to  you.  Having  taken  you  as  a  fortress 
for  Christ,  we  can  not  leave  you  assailed  by  Satan  and  half  sur- 
rendered to  him.  When  you  are  again  established  in  the  faith 
I  expect  to  go  on  into  Italy  and  into  Spain,  and  do  work  in 
those  parts  of  my  province  which  lie  far  beyond  you.  It  is  no 
part  of  my  plan  or  intention  to  take  possession  of  some  other 
man's  labor  and  glory  in  it,  as  you  false  leaders  have  done  by 


FOES,    WEAPONS  AND  MEASUREMENTS    225 

coming  to  Corinth  and  taking  possession  of  the  church  which  I 
left  there  ready  to  your  hand.]  17  But  he  that  glorieth, 
let  him  glory  in  the  Lord.  [Paul  here  gives  the  rule  of 
boasting  as  condensed  from  Jer.  9:  23,  24.  Paul's  enemies 
had  not  observed  this  rule;  he  had.  In  verse  5  he  ascribed  all 
his  power  to  God,  and  in  verse  13  he  shows  that,  vast  as  his 
work  was,  it  was  far  less  than  God  demanded  of  him.]  18 
For  not  he  that  commendeth  himself  is  approved,  but 
whom  the  Lord  commendeth.  [The  self-commendation 
of  a  man  rests  on  no  higher  evidence  than  the  testimony  of  his 
own  lips,  but  the  commendation  of  God  is  shown  by  the  works 
which  he  enables  those  to  do  whom  he  approves.] 

II. 

APOLOGY  FOR  SELF- COMMENDATION,  DENIAL 

OF  CHARGES  AND  LAYING  OF 

COUNTER  CHARGES. 

11:  1-15. 
[While  this  third  part  of  Paul's  epistle  is  directed  against  his 
enemies,  it  is  obvious  that  even  these  are,  in  his  estimation,  di- 
vided into  two  classes;  i.  e.,  the  leaders  and  the  led.  The  apostle 
does  not  always  keep  these  separate  in  his  mind,  yet  we  frequent- 
ly find  him,  as  in  this  section,  appealing  to  those  who  were  led, 
and  denouncing  those  who  led  them.]  1  Would  that  ye 
could  bear  with  me  in  a  little  foolishness:  but  indeed 
ye  do  bear  with  me.  2  For  I  am  jealous  over  you 
with  a  godly  jealousy:  for  I  espoused  you  to  one  hus- 
band, that  I  might  present  you  as  a  pure  virgin  to 
Christ.  3  But  I  fear,  lest  by  any  means,  as  the  ser- 
pent beguiled  Eve  in  his  craftiness,  your  minds  should 
be  corrupted  from  the  simplicity  and  the  purity  that  is 
toward  Christ.  4  For  if  he  that  cometh  preacheth 
another  Jesus,  whom  we  did  not  preach,  or  if  ye  re- 
ceive a  different  spirit,  which  ye  did  not  receive,  or  a 
different  gospel,  which  ye  did  not  accept,  ye  do  well  to 


226  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

bear  with  him.  [These  first  four  verses  are  introductory. 
The  apostle,  seeing  the  effect  which  the  self-glorification  of 
these  false  teachers  has  had  upon  certain  of  the  Corinthians, 
determines,  for  a  time,  to  adopt  their  tactics,  descend  to  the 
foolishness  of  boasting,  and  thus  overcome  them  on  their  own 
ground.  Paul,  in  his  consecration  to  Christ  and  forgetfulness 
of  self,  could  not  thus  descend  to  the  level  of  boasting,  even 
though  he  merely  related  facts,  without  a  sense  of  shame  and  a 
petition  for  consideration.  When  he  considers  the  folly  of  the 
situation,  it  seems  to  him  that  the  Corinthians  could  not  put  up 
with  it,  but  when  he  remembers  their  affection  for  him,  he  is 
sure  they  will.  He  tells  them  that  nothing  but  the  strongest 
motives  could  induce  him  to  thus  belittle  himself,  but  he  found 
such  a  motive  in  his  extreme  jealousy  for  them  on  Christ's 
behalf.  As  the  paranymph,  or  "bridegroom's  friend"  (John  3: 
29),  the  one  whose  office  it  was  to  procure  and  arrange  the 
marriage,  he  had  espoused  them  to  one  husband,  even  Christ, 
and  had  so  instructed  and  led  them  as  to  present  them  pure  and 
spotless  before  the  Lord  at  his  coming.  But  now  he  feared 
that  as  the  serpent  led  Eve  into  sin  by  his  crafty  wickedness, 
so  these  false  teachers  were  corrupting  the  church  at  Corinth 
from  that  simplicity  of  doctrine  and  purity  of  life  which  they 
owed  to  Christ,  their  espoused  husband.  Now,  if  these  false 
teachers  (and  Paul  speaks  of  one  of  them  as  a  sample  of  them 
all)  had  come  professing  to  preach  another  Jesus  and  another 
rehgious  spirit,  and  a  different  gospel  from  any  that  Paul 
preached,  there  might  have  been  some  excuse  in  giving  them  a 
patient  hearing.  But  such  had  not  been  the  case.  Professedly 
they  were  preaching  the  same  Jesus,  etc.,  that  he  did,  and  so 
the  Corinthians  were  without  excuse  in  permitting  them  to 
assail  Paul.  They  had  sold  their  apostle  and  had  received 
nothing  in  exchange  for  him.  With  the  next  verse  his  boast- 
ing begins,  but  in  a  very  mild  and  apologetic  form.]  5  For  I 
reckon  that  I  am  not  a  whit  behind  the  very  chief- 
est  apostles.  [I  can  not  think  thai  you  receive  these  rival 
teachers  and  professed  apostles  as  so  much  superior  to  me,  for 
I  am  not  behind  these  super-apostolic  apostles.      Paul  is  not 


DJiNIAL    OF  CHARGES,   ETC.  227 

here  comparing  himself  with  the  twelve,  but  with  these  spurious 
apostles  at  Corinth.  Paul  reveals  his  emotion  by  the  use  of 
that  strange  word  which  is  translated  "very  chiefest."  It 
means  "out-and-out,"  "extra-super,"  "overmuch,"  a  term  he 
would  have  never  applied  to  the  twelve.  It  is  as  though  he  said. 
Though  these  men  claim  to  be  apostles  a  hundred  times  over, 
yet  I  can  certainly  take  my  place  in  the  front  ranks  with  them.^ 
6  But  though  /  be  rude  in  speech,  yet  am  I  not  in 
knowledge;  nay,  in  every  way  have  we  made  this 
manifest  unto  you  in  all  things.  [Paul  admits  that  one 
criticism  of  him  was  true.  He  did  indeed  pay  litttle  regard  to 
the  laws  of  rhetoric,  and  scorned  to  weaken  his  thought  by 
loading  it  with  verbal  ornament  or  the  studied  expressions  wliich 
the  schools  regarded  as  eloquence.  But  though  he  was  thus 
rude  in  speech,  a  very  unimportant  matter,  he  was  not  deficient 
in  the  all-important  sphere  of  knowledge.  The  Corinthians 
had  had  every  opportunity  to  test  him  in  this  particular,  and  he 
felt  that  the  truth  of  his  statement  must  be  so  manifest  to  them 
as  to  need  no  further  proof.]  7  Or  did  I  commit  a  sin  in 
abasing  myself  that  ye  might  be  exalted,  because  I 
preached  to  you  the  gospel  of  God  for  nought?  [A 
second  accusation  which  his  enemies  never  wearied  in  present- 
ing was  that  he  had  preached  the  gospel  in  Corinth  without 
charge.  They  had  said  that  he  did  this  because  he  knew  that 
he  was  not  an  apostle,  and  so  was  hindered  by  his  conscience 
from  taking  the  wages  of  an  apostle — see  i  Cor.  9:  1-15  and 
notes.  As  Paul  has  already  refuted  this  charge,  he  does  not 
repeat  the  refutation;  he  merely  asks  them  if  he  had  committed 
a  sin  in  so  doing.]  8  I  robbed  other  churches  [Paul  again 
shows  his  emotion  by  the  indignant  hyperbole  "robbed"],  tak- 
ing wages  of  them  that  I  might  minister  unto  you; 
9  and  when  I  was  present  with  you  and  was  in 
want,  I  was  not  a  burden  on  any  man;  for  the 
brethren  [z.  e.,  Silas  and  Timothy,  Acts  18:  5],  when  they 
came  from  Macedonia,  supplied  the  measure  of  my 
want;  and  in  everything  I  kept  myself  from  being 
burdensome   unto    you,    and    so    will  I  keep  myself. 


228  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS 

[Here  the  apostle  relates  the  well-known  history  of  his  ministry 
at  Corinth.  The  church  at  Philippi  is  the  only  one  which  we 
know  of  that  contributed  to  his  needs  while  in  Corinth  (Phil.  4: 
15,  16).  When  his  necessities  had  reached  a  crisis  and  he  had 
come  to  want,  he  had  not  appealed  to  the  Corinthians,  but  had 
endured  until  relieved  by  the  coming  of  his  friends  from  Mace- 
donia. His  enemies  had  slandered  him  as  to  this,  hoping  to 
drive  him  to  receive  wages  that  they  might  reduce  his  influence 
in  this  respect  to  the  level  of  their  own;  but  in  this  hope  they 
would  be  disappointed,  for  he  would  continue  to  preach  without 
compensation  as  he  always  had  done.]  10  As  the  truth  of 
Christ  is  in  me,  no  man  shall  stop  me  of  this  glory- 
ing in  the  regions  of  Achaia.  11  Wherefore?  because 
I  love  you  not?  God  knoweth.  12  But  what  I  do, 
that  I  will  do,  that  I  may  cut  off  occasion  from  them 
that  desire  an  occasion;  that  wherein  they  glory,  they 
may  be  found  even  as  we.  [The  apostle  is  determined 
that  whatever  he  may  do  elsewhere  he  will  receive  no  compen- 
sation for  any  preaching  in  Achaia.  Knowing  that  they  would 
wish  to  know  why  he  thus  made  an  exception  in  their  case, 
he  raises  the  question  himself,  but  does  not  answer  it,  because 
to  do  so  frankly  would  have  been  to  show  the  deficiencies  of  their 
entire  character  and  nature.  But  that  he  does  not  thus  except 
them  because  of  any  lack  of  love,  is  shown  by  his  appeal  to 
God,  who  knew  his  heart.  Compare  6:  11-13;  7:  2;  12:  15.  One 
motive  for  his  conduct  he  will  tell  them,  and  that  is  that  he 
may  silence  the  tongues  of  those  who  seek  an  opportunity  to 
detract  him.  Here  the  language  of  the  apostle  grows  bitterly 
sarcastic.  The  false  teachers  had  received  wages  from  the 
beginning,  yet  he  speaks  of  them  as  if  they  gloried  in  preaching 
the  gospel  for  nothing  and  declares  that  he  will  do  likewise  that 
they  may  be  found  no  better  than  he.  In  the  next  three  verses 
Paul  speaks  with  the  most  unreserved  plainness,  and,  as  Bengel 
observes,  "calls  a  spade  a  spade."]  13  For  such  men  are 
false  apostles,  deceitful  workers,  fashioning  them- 
selves into  apostles  of  Christ.  [Thus  he  declares  plainly 
that  these  men  are  not  apostles,  that  they  maintained  their  false 


DENIAL    OF  CHARGES,   ETC.  229 

position  by  imposture,  and  that  they  assumed  the  name  and 
office  of  apostles,  though  never  having  been  called  to  be  such 
by  Christ.]  14  And  no  marvel;  for  even  Satan  fash- 
ioneth  himself  into  an  angel  of  light.  15  It  is  no 
great  thing  therefore  if  his  ministers  also  fashion 
themselves  as  ministers  of  righteousness;  whose  end 
shall  be  according  to  their  works.  [The  apostle  says 
that  no  one  need  stand  aghast  at  such  awful  presumption, 
for  Satan  himself  sets  an  example  in  this  respect  and  his  minis- 
ters may  be  expected  to  follow  it.  Some  think  that  Satan 
fashioned  himself  as  an  angel  of  light  when  he  appeared  before 
God  as  narrated  in  the  Book  of  Job;  others,  that  he  did  so  when 
he  appeared  before  Jesus  to  tempt  him.  It  is  not  clear  to  what 
incident  in  the  life  of  Satan  Paul  refers.  In  this  age,  as  in  all 
ages,  these  warning  words  of  the  apostle  should  be  weighed  and 
considered.  As  Jesus  bade  us  beware  of  wolves  in  sheep's  cloth- 
ing, so  Paul  bids  us  beware  of  the  emissaries  of  Satan,  who 
come  claiming  to  be  leaders  in  religion.  The  servants  of  Satan 
do  not  hesitate  to  hold  ecclesiastical  offices,  or  occupy  pulpits. 

III. 

A   COMPARISON   OF  LABOR,    SIGNS,  ETC. 

ii:  16-12:  13 

[In  this  section  the  apostle  draws  a  comparison  between 
himself  and  the  false  apostles,  showing  how  he  excelled  them 
in  labors,  revelations,  signs,  etc.]  16  I  say  again  [having 
twice  swerved  from  the  distasteful  task,  Paul  unwillingly 
resumes  his  apparent  boasting],  Let  no  man  think  me  fool- 
ish; but  if  ye  do,  yet  as  foolish  receive  me,  that  I 
also  may  glory  a  little.  17  That  which  I  speak,  I 
speak  not  after  the  Lord,  but  as  in  foolishness,  in  this 
confidence  of  glorying.  [Let  no  man  think  that  I  am  fool- 
ish enough  to  boast  wittingly  of  my  own  accord,  but  if  any  one 
does  so  think,  let  him,  nevertheless,  bear  with  me  a  little  while 
in  my  boasting,  since  my  adversaries  have  made  it  the  order  of 

16 


230   SECOND  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

the  day.  I  am  painfully  conscious  that  the  Spirit  of  God  does 
not  prompt  to  boasting,  but  I  do  so  on  my  own  responsibility, 
or  according  to  my  own  confident  folly,  my  so  doing  having 
been  made  a  permissible  necessity  by  your  behavior  toward 
me.]  18  Seeing  that  many  glory  after  the  flesh,  I 
will  glory  also.  [I  am  about  to  follow  the  carnal  example 
of  the  boasters,  that  I  may  defeat  them  with  their  own 
weapon.]  19  For  ye  bear  with  the  foolish  gladly,  being 
wise  yourselves.  20  For  ye  bear  with  a  man,  if  he 
bringeth  you  into  bondage,  if  he  devoureth  you,  if  he 
taketh  you  captive,  if  he  exalteth  himself,  if  he  smiteth 
you  on  the  face.  21  I  speak  by  way  of  disparage- 
ment, as  though  we  had  been  weak.  Yet  whereinso- 
ever any  is  bold  (I  speak  in  foolishness),  I  am  bold 
also.  [You  encourage  me  to  talk  foolishly,  for  it  pleaseth  you 
to  indulge  fools  that  ye  may  thereby  flatter  yourselves  with  a 
show  of  superiority,  and  by  your  recent  conduct  toward  these, 
my  rivals  in  boasting,  you  have  shown  to  what  lengths  of 
patient  endurance  you  will  go  in  this  matter,  for  you  have  per- 
mitted them  to  bring  you  into  bondage  to  their  authority  and 
their  false  doctrine,  to  impoverish  you  by  exorbitant  exactions 
of  wages,  to  treat  you  as  their  captives,  and  to  exalt  themselves 
over  you  as  though  they  were  your  conquerors,  and  even  to 
smite  you  as  though  you  had  become  their  slaves.  If  you  bore 
with  such  strenuous  boastfulness,  you  can  bear  with  me  in  my 
weak  foolishness.  But  I  have  indeed  disparaged  myself  when 
I  talked  about  my  meekness,  as  I  will  now  show  you,  for  if  any 
ever  addressed  bold  words  to  you,  you  are  now  about  to  hear 
such  from  me  also.  And  yet  my  words  w^ill  all  be  foolishness, 
for  all  the  things  whereof  I  boast  are  really  worthless  as  com- 
mendations to  you  in  comparison  with  my  being  called  of  Christ 
as  his  apostle.  The  apostle  speaks  of  the  whole  class  of  false 
apostles  as  if  they  were  a  single  individual.  Thus,  after  many 
preliminary  apologies  and  explanations,  Paul  comes  at  last  to  his 
boast,  not  of  his  exploits  or  talents,  as  one  might  expect,  but  of 
his  sufferings  and  humiliations,  revelations  and  self-sacrifices.] 
22  Are  they  Hebrews  ?  so  am  I.    Are  they  Israelites  ? 


A    COMPARISON  OF  LABOR,   SIGNS,   ETC.   231 

so  am  I.  Are  they  the  seed  of  Abraham  ?  so  am  I. 
[This  verse  shows  clearly  that  Paul's  enemies  were  Judaizing 
Jews.  They  had  evidently  boasted  of  their  race,  nationality, 
etc.,  to  the  disparagement  of  Paul.  They  probably  urged  that 
Paul  was  greatly  inferior  to  them  because  he  was  born  at  Tar- 
sus, was  a  Roman  citizen,  lived  much  like  a  Gentile,  and  did 
not  abjectly  obey  the  Jewish  law.  By  their  whisperings  they 
no  doubt  laid  the  foundation  for  that  calumny  which  was  long 
after  found  formed  against  him;  for  "it  would  appear  from 
Epiphanius,"  says  Stanley,  ''that  Judaizers  went  so  far  as  to 
assert  that  he  was  altogether  a  Gentile  by  birth,  and  only 
adopted  circumcision  in  order  to  marry  the  high  priest's 
daughter."  In  answer  to  this  rising  cloud  of  slander,  Paul 
asserts  his  racial,  national,  etc.,  equality  with  his  enemies.  He 
was  a  Hebrew,  he  belonged  to  the  sacred  nation  and  spoke  the 
sacred  language  (Acts  22:  2);  and  an  Israelite,  he  belonged  to 
the  theocracy,  and  being  of  the  seed  of  Abraham,  he  was  by 
birth  an  heir  to  the  promises,  and  was  not  a  proselyte  nor 
descended  from  one.]  23  Are  they  ministers  of  Christ?  (I 
speak  as  one  beside  himself)  I  more;  in  labors  more 
abundantly  [i  Cor.  15: 10],  in  prisons  more  abundantly, 
in  stripes  above  measure,  in  deaths  oft.  [i  Cor.  15:  31. 
On  Jewish  grounds  Paul  claimed  equality,  but  as  a  minister  of 
Christ,  superiority.  Knowing  that  his  enemies  would  say  that 
it  accorded  with  his  general  insanity  to  thus  assert  his  superior- 
ity, he  ironically  admits  his  madness  in  thus  asserting  that  his 
ministerial  labors  exceeded  those  of  his  easy-living  adversaries — 
theirs  being  in  fact  no  labor  at  all,  but  rather  an  effort  to  steal  the 
credit  of  his  labors.  This  verse  gives  the  general  bodily  distress- 
es endured,  while  the  next  three  tell  of  special  cases.  According 
to  Acts,  Paul  had,  up  to  this  date,  been  imprisoned  but  once,  and 
was  afterwards  imprisoned  thrice.  Clement  of  Rome,  who 
wrote  toward  the  close  of  the  first  century,  says  that  Paul  was 
imprisoned  seven  times.  Paul's  life  for  long  periods  was  hourly 
exposed  to  death  (Acts  9:  23;  13:50;  14:  5,  6,  19;  17:  5,  13); 
but  the  best  comment  on  this  expression  is  the  catalogue  of 
sufferings  which  follow,]     24  Of  the  Jews  five  times  re- 


232  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

ceived  I  forty  stripes  save  one.  [Deut.  25:  2.  The  law 
limited  all  beatings  to  forty  stripes;  but  one  stripe  was  omitted  lest 
the  law  should  be  accidentally  broken  through  careless  counting. 
Such  a  scourging  inflicted  the  agony  of  death,  and  generally 
resulted  in  it.  Not  one  of  these  scourgings  is  mentioned  in 
Acts.]  25  Thrice  was  I  beaten  with  rods,  once  was 
I  stoned,  thrice  I  suffered  shipwreck,  a  night  and  a 
day  have  I  been  in  the  deep  [The  Romans  punished 
by  using  the  vine  rods  of  the  soldiers  or  the  fasces  of  the  lictors, 
and  no  law  limited  the  number  of  strokes.  Such  beatings 
often  caused  death.  Roman  citizenship  was  presumed  to  pro- 
tect from  such  punishment,  but  in  his  orations  Cicero  tells  us 
that  in  the  provinces  the  rights  of  citizenship  were  often  set  at 
nought  in  this  respect.  Luke  tells  of  but  one  of  these  beatings 
(Acts  26:  22).  The  stoning  took  place  at  Lystra  (Acts  14:  19). 
Luke  tells  in  all  of  six  sea  voyages,  but  says  nothing  of  the 
wreckings  here  mentioned.  In  referring  to  the  twenty-four- 
hour  struggle  for  life  amidst  the  waves,  Paul  uses  the  present 
tense,  showing  that  the  horror  of  his  situation  was  still  vividly 
remembered]:  26  in  journeyings  often,  in  perils  of 
rivers,  in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils  from  my  coun- 
trymen, in  perils  from  the  Gentiles,  in  perils  in  the 
city,  in  perils  in  the  wilderness,  in  perils  in  the  sea, 
in  perils  among  false  brethren  [Disasters  at  sea  remind 
Paul  of  similar  trials  by  land,  and  the  eightfold  reiteration  of 
"perils"  emphasizes  the  fact  that  he  was  nowhere  safe.  Trav- 
eling in  those  days  was  both  arduous  and  dangerous.  The 
highways  were  infested  with  robbers  and  the  streams  were 
often  without  bridges,  the  mountain  torrents  were  sudden  and 
violent  in  their  risings,  and  the  science  of  navigation  and  the 
art  of  shipbuilding  were  each  extremely  crude.  For  perils 
from  his  own  countrymen,  see  Acts  13:  45,  50;  14:  2,  5;  17:  5, 
13;  18:  15;  19:  9;  21:  27.  They  even  attempted  to  take  his  life 
a  few  weeks  later  as  he  was  leaving  Corinth  (Acts  23).  For 
perils  from  the  Gentiles,  see  Acts  19:  30,  31.  For  his  perils  in 
the  cities,  see  verse  32,  and  Acts  9:  24,  25,  29;  13:  50;  14:  5,  19; 
16:19;   17:5,  13;   18:  12;   19:  23.     Perils   from   false    brethren 


A    COMPARISON  OF  LABOR,   SIGNS,   ETC.    233 

were  the  most  distressing  of  all,  for  they  wounded  the  affec- 
tions— Phil.  3:  18;  Gal.  2:  4];  27  in  labor  and  travail,  in 
watchings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings 
often,  in  cold  and  nakedness.  [The  apostle  here  tells 
how  he  labored  until  labor  became  a  pain;  how  he  sacrificed 
his  sleep  that  he  might  teach,  preach  and  pray  (Acts  20:  31; 
I  Thess.  3:  10);  how  his  journeyings  often  took  him  where  he 
suffered  for  water  and  was  faint  with  hunger;  how  he  often 
fasted  for  the  good  of  the  cause  (Acts  13:  2,  3;  14:  23;  i  Cor. 
9:  27);  and  how  he  was  cold  and  insufficiently  clad.  The 
apostle  makes  no  mention  of  the  frequency  of  his  hunger  and 
thirst,  etc.,  for  the  recurrency  of  these  trials  was  beyond  his 
control.  He  employs  the  word  ''often"  when  speaking  of  the 
watchings  and  fastings  which  were  directly  under  his  control, 
and  which  he  might  have  avoided  had  he  chosen  to  do  so. 
Surely  this  catalogue  of  privations  must  have  made  the 
apostle's  character  stand  in  strong  contrast  to  the  self-indul- 
gent spirit  of  his  adversaries.  From  physical  trials  Paul  now 
turns  to  those  which  were  mental.]  28  Besides  those 
things  that  are  without,  there  is  that  which  presseth 
upon  me  daily,  anxiety  for  all  the  churches.  [Besides 
the  things  which  I  have  already  mentioned — trials  which  come 
from  external  circumstances — there  are  others  which  attack  me 
daily;  I  mean  the  wranglings,  disputes,  backslidings  and  apos- 
tasies of  all  the  churches  which  are  constantly  brought  to  my 
attention  that  I  may  instruct,  arbitrate  or  discipline  according 
as  the  cases  may  demand.  This  verse  may  also  be  taken  to 
mean  that  there  were  trials  other  than  those  mentioned,  which 
came  upon  Paul  from  without.]  29  Who  is  weak,  and  I 
am  not  weak?  who  is  caused  to  stumble,  and  I  burn 
not?  [Irj  this  verse  Paul  shows  what  the  care  of  the  churches 
meant  to  him.  It  was  an  excessive  drain  upon  his  sympathies. 
If  any  weak  one  suffered  through  the  rash  selfishness  of  a 
brother  who  abused  his  liberty  by  eating  in  an  idol  temple, 
Paul  suffered  with  him  as  if  he  also  were  weak,  and  if  any 
were  caused  to  stumble,  Paul  made  the  case  of  such  a  one  his 
own,  and  burned  with  indignation.]     30  If   I   must  needs 


234   SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

glory,  I  will  glory  of  the  things  that  concern  my 
weakness.]  If  my  enemies  force  upon  me  the  moral  neces- 
sity of  boasting,  I  will  at  least  not  boast  of  my  exploits,  but  of 
tliose  things  which  others  might  regard  as  matters  of  shame. 
Thus  the  apostle  shows  how  impossible  it  was  for  him  to  really 
boast  after  the  fashion  of  a  worldly  mind.]  31  The  God 
and  Father  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  he  w^ho  is  blessed  for 
evermore  knoweth  that  I  lie  not.  [This  solemn  assever- 
ation is  not  to  be  restricted  to  the  statements  contained  in  the 
next  two  verses,  but  applies  to  all  he  has  said  or  is  about  to 
say  in  this  entire  section.  No  doubt  in  the  apostle's  own  mind 
it  was  called  forth  by  what  he  was  about  to  say  concerning  his 
revelations,  his  mind  looking  forward  to  what  he  intended  to 
say  when  he  added  the  last  item  to  his  catalogue  of  sufferings.] 
32  In  Damascus  the  governor  under  Aretas  the  king 
guarded  the  city  of  the  Damascenes  in  order  to  take 
me:  33  and  through  a  w^indow  was  I  let  down  in  a 
basket  by  the  wall,  and  escaped  his  hands.  [In  the 
walled  cities  of  the  Orient,  houses  were  often  built  against  the 
walls  so  that  the  windows  projected  over  them.  No  doubt  in 
Paul's  mind  an  apostle  in  a  basket  seemed  the  depth  of  humili- 
ation. Aretas  was  king  of  Arabia  from  B.  C.  7  to  A.  D.  40. 
Damascus  belonged  to  Rome,  and  it  has  puzzled  some  to  find 
it  at  this  time  under  the  control  of  the  king  of  Arabia.  But  it 
will  be  remembered  that  Aretas  engaged  in  war  with  Herod, 
because  he  dismissed  the  Arab's  daughter  and  took  his  niece, 
Herodias,  for  a  wife.  Aretas  defeated  Herod,  and  the  Romans 
took  up  the  quarrel,  and  it  seems  likely  that  in  the  ensuing  con- 
test the  city  of  Damascus  fell,  for  a  time,  into  the  hands  of  the 
Arabians.] 

XII.  1  I  must  needs  glory,  though  it  is  not  ex- 
pedient; but  I  will  come  to  visions  and  revelations 
of  the  Lord.  [I  feel  constrained  to  go  on  with  my  boasting, 
though  I  recognize  that  it  is  not  expedient  for  me  to  do  so  since 
it  gives  my  enemies  further  material  for  detraction  and  vilifica- 
tion. Yet  I  will  speak  of  the  visions  which  the  Lord  gave  me 
and  the  revelations  which  they  brought  me.]     2  I    know  a 


A    COMPARISON   OF  LABOR,  SIGNS,  ETC.   235 

man  in  Christ,  fourteen  years  ago  (whether  in  the 
body,  I  know  not;  or  whether  out  of  the  body,  I  know 
not;  God  knoweth),  such  a  one  caught  up  even  to  the 
third  heaven.  3  And  I  know  such  a  man  (whether  in 
the  body,  or  apart  from  the  body,  I  know  not;  God 
knoweth);  4  how  that  he  was  caught  up  into  Para- 
dise, and  heard  unspeakable  words,  which  it  is  not 
law^ful  for  man  to  utter.  5  On  behalf  of  such  a  one 
w^ill  I  glory:  but  on  mine  ow^n  behalf  I  w^ill  not  glory, 
save  in  my  weaknesses.  [Here  Paul  speaks  of  an  experi- 
ence of  his,  but  declines  to  name  himself,  or  use  the  first 
person,  lest  he  might  be  thought  to  be  glorying  in  his  own 
exaltation.  He  had  been  caught  up  into  paradise,  or  the 
secret  place  of  the  Almighty.  This  he  calls  the  third  heaven, 
for  in  the  Jewish  estimation  the  air  was  the  first  heaven,  the 
region  of  the  sun,  moon  and  stars  was  the  second  heaven. 
Somewhere  beyond  the  stars  was  the  abode  of  the  Almighty. 
He  was  miraculously  drawn  up  into  heaven,  but  whether  his 
whole  personality  went  thither,  or  whether  merely  that  part  of 
him  (his  spiritual  nature)  which  was  suited  to  comprehend  and 
enjoy  heaven,  he  could  not  tell.  While  here  he  had  heard 
words  which  it  was  not  lawful  for  him  to  try  to  interpret  by  the 
insufficient  and  consequently  misleading  worth  of  earth.  He 
tells  this  event,  but  it  was  an  honor  so  much  above  his  deserv- 
ing that  he  avoids  even  such  a  method  of  telling  it  as  might  be 
construed  to  be  boastful.  If  he  gloried  on  his  own  behalf,  it 
would  still  be  in  his  weaknesses.  As  Paul  wrote  this  epistle  in 
A.  D.  57,  the  deduction  of  fourteen  years  would  bring  us  to 
A.  D.  43,  the  season  when  Paul  was  in  Antioch.]  6  For  if  I 
should  desire  to  glory,  I  shall  not  be  foolish;'  for 
I  shall  speak  the  truth:  but  I  forbear,  lest  any  man 
should  account  of  me  above  that  w^hich  he  seeth  me  to 
he,  or  heareth  from  me.  [Now,  if  I  should  desire  to  boast,  I 
should  not  need  to  foolishly  vaunt  myself  as  to  imaginary 
things,  but  I  could  confine  myself  to  truth,  and  tell  many  won- 
derful experiences  of  visions  exposed  to  my  eyes  and  revela- 
tions imparted  to  my  mind.     But  I  forbear  to  proceed  further, 


236  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

lest  any  man  should  think  of  me  as  more  excellent  than  my 
conduct  or  my  speech  would  indicate.  This  I  do  not  want. 
I  desire  no  exaggerated  reverence,  but  seek  only  that  goodwill 
and  esteem  which  my  conduct  merits.]  7  And  by  reason 
of  the  exceeding  greatness  of  the  revelations,  that 
I  should  not  be  exalted  overmuch,  there  was 
given  to  me  a  thorn  in  the  flesh,  a  messenger  of 
Satan  to  buffet  me,  that  I  should  not  be  exalted 
overmuch.  [From  the  earliest  ages  down  men  have  in- 
dulged in  wild  speculation  as  to  what  Paul  meant  by  his  thorn 
in  the  flesh.  See  comment  on  i:  lo.  The  most  plausible  the- 
ory is  that  it  was  disfiguring  and  acute  ophthalmia.  Suffice  it  to 
say  that  it  was  some  bodily  infirmity  which  acted  as  a  balance 
to  Paul's  mind,  drawing  his  thoughts  and  attention  to  his 
earthly  state,  lest  they  should  dwell  too  constantly  in  meditation 
upon  the  things  which  had  been  revealed  to  him.]  8  Con- 
cerning this  thing  I  besought  the  Lord  thrice  [Matt.  26: 
44],  that  it  might  depart  from  me.  9  And  he  hath 
said  unto  me.  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee:  for  my 
power  is  made  perfect  in  weakness.  [Phil.  4:  13;  i  Cor.  2: 
3-5.]  Most  gladly  therefore  will  I  rather  glory  in  my 
w^eaknesses,  that  the  power  of  Christ  may  rest  upon 
me.  [The  prayer  was  not  granted,  but  a  compensation  was 
made  for  denying  it.  How  evident  it  must  have  been  to  the 
Corinthians,  from  the  sufferings  he  so  cheerfully  endured,  that 
he  was  the  true  messenger  of  Christ!  Paul's  use  of  the  phrase 
"rest  upon  me"  suggests  the  resting  of  the  Spirit  on  the  apos- 
tles at  Pentecost — Acts  2:  3.]  10  Wherefore  I  take 
pleasure  in  weaknesses,  in  injuries,  in  necessities, 
in  persecutions,  in  distresses,  for  Christ's  sake:  for 
when  I  am  w^eak,  then  am  I  strong.  [God  so  orders 
it  that  the  times  of  my  weakness  are  the  very  hours  when  my 
strength  is  revealed,  and  thus  each  period  of  death  is  turned 
into  a  season  of  resurrection — 4:  10.]  11  I  am  become 
foolish:  ye  compelled  me;  for  I  ought  to  have  been 
commended  of  you:  for  in  nothing  was  I  behind  the 
very   chiefest  apostles,  though   I   am  nothing.     [You, 


A    COMPARISON   OF  LABOR,   SIGNS,  ETC.  237 

who  should  have  spoken  in  my  defense  and  commendation,  by 
keeping  silence  have  compelled  me  to  boast,  and  to  show  that, 
nobody  as  I  am,  I  am  at  least  equal  to  these  overmuch  apostles.] 
12  Truly  the  signs  of  an  apostle  were  wrought 
among  you  in  all  patience,  by  signs  and  wonders 
and  mighty  works.  13  For  what  is  there  wherein 
ye  were  made  inferior  to  the  rest  of  the  churches, 
except  it  he  that  I  myself  was  not  a  burden  to 
you?  forgive  me  this  wrong.  [And  you  are  without 
excuse  in  thus  compelling  me  to  defend  myself  by  prov- 
ing my  apostleship,  for  it  was  proved  long  since  among  you 
by  the  miracles  which  I  wrought  among  you  as  signs  ^nd 
evidences  of  it  (evidences  which  his  enemies  wholly  lacked); 
and  also  by  the  patient  spirit  in  which  I  wrought  the  miracles, 
for  I  have  again  and  again  forborne  to  use  my  power  to  crush 
my  wicked  opposers  (i:  1-3;  i  Cor.  4:  21).  And  I  so  fully  proved 
my  apostleship  among  you,  that  you  showed  to  no  disadvantage 
whatever  when  compared  with  other  churches  founded  by  any 
others,  for  you  had  all  the  signs,  gifts,  graces,  etc.,  which  they 
had,  unless  it  be  that  I  myself  did  not  aid  my  opposers  in  the 
good  work  of  extorting  wages  from  you — forgive  me  for  thus 
wronging  you  !  These  last  words,  though  ironical,  are  superbly 
dignified  and  pathetic.  By  his  disinterested  kindness  to  them, 
the  apostle  had  favored  them  above  all  other  churches — 11:  8.] 

IV. 

THE   THIRD   VISIT.     CONCLUSION. 

12:  14-13:  14. 

14  Behold,  this  is  the  third  time  I  am  ready  to  come 
to  you;  and  I  will  not  be  a  burden  to  you:  for  I  seek 
not  yours,  but  you:  for  the  children  ought  not  to  lay 
up  for  the  parents,  but  the  parents  for  the  children. 
[There  has  been  much  dispute  as  to  whether  Paul  says  that 
this  is  his  third  visit,  or  the  third  time  he  has  intended  to  visit. 
Evidendy  it  was  to  be  his  third  visit.  See  2:  i;   12:  21;   13:  I,  2, 


238  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

Knowing  that  if  this  letter  moved  them  to  repentance  or  shame, 
the  Corinthians  would  wish  him  to  accept  some  compensation 
for  his  services,  and  that  if  he  did  so  his  enemies  would  revive 
their  slanders  against  him,  and  assert  that  his  whole  purpose  in 
writing  was  to  gratify  his  mercenary  desires,  Paul  makes  it  easy 
to  decline  any  such  offer  on  their  part  by  declining  it  now 
beforehand.  He  asserts  that  he  will  maintain  himself  without 
their  support,  as  he  has  done  on  his  two  former  visits,  and  lest 
they  should  resent  this  independence  on  his  part,  he  declares 
that  he  is  actuated  thereto  by  an  intense  love  for  them — a  love 
which  seeks  not  their  money  for  his  benefit,  but  their  souls  for 
thejr  own  benefit.  He  affectionately,  yet  almost  playfully, 
bases  his  conduct  on  that  rule  as  to  parents  and  children  which, 
though  it  sometimes  permits  children  to  aid  parents,  obliges 
parents  akvays  to  maintain  children.  He  was  their  spiritual 
father  (i  Cor.  4:  14,  15),  and  he  claims  the  obligations  of  his 
parental  relation  as  if  they  were  much-coveted  rights.  Thus, 
as  throughout  the  epistle,  the  thunders  of  the  apostle  have 
quickly  subsided  into  the  tender  accents  of  the  parent.]  15 
And  I  will  most  gladly  spend  and  be  spent  for  your 
souls.  If  I  love  you  more  abundantly,  am  I  loved  the 
less?  16  But  be  it  so,  I  did  not  myself  burden  you; 
but,  being  crafty,  I  caught  you  with  guile.  [And  as 
a  doting  parent  I  will  gladly  spend  all  that  I  have  and  all  that 
I  am  for  your  soul's  sake.  Gladly,  as  it  were,  will  I  break  the 
earthen  vessel  that  its  contents  may  be  lavishly  poured  out  upon 
you  (4:  7;  Mark  14:  3).  And  can  it  be  possible  that  you  will 
be  so  unnatural  as  to  love  me  less  in  proportion  as  I  love  you 
the  more?  "But,"  say  my  detractors,  "you  apparently  did  not 
burden  us;  we  concede  this  to  be  so;  but  you  caught  us  with 
guile,  for  you  have  levied  contributions,  ostensibly  for  the  poor 
in  Jerusalem,  but  really  to  reimburse  yourself  for  the  wages 
which  you  feel  to  be  due  you,  and  about  which  you  have  been 
so  noisily  boasting."]  17  Did  I  take  advantage  of  you 
by  any  one  of  them  whom  I  have  sent  unto  you? 
18  I  exhorted  Titus,  and  I  sent  the  brother  with  him. 
Did  Titus  take  any   advantage   of    you?   walked  we 


THE    THIRD    VISIT.     CONCLUSION         239 

not  in  the  same  spirit?  walked  we  not  in  the  same 
steps  ?  [Now  let  us  look  a-t  the  facts  and  see  where  I  used 
such  guile.  My  detractors  admit  that  I  myself  took  nothing: 
then  I  must  have  taken  it  through  the  agency  of  others.  If  so, 
by  whom  ?  Titus  and  the  brother  who  accompanied  him  were 
the  only  agents  I  sent.  Did  Titus  thus  cheat  you  in  my  behalf? 
Did  he  not,  on  the  contrary,  show  you  the  same  inner  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice  which  I  displayed  ?  Did  he  not  outwardly  follow 
my  plans,  exhorting  you  not  to  give  it  to  him,  or  send  it  to  me, 
but  to  lay  it  up  in  your  own  treasury  weekly  as  I  directed  ? 
See  I  Cor.  i6:  i,  2.  If  Titus,  as  we  have  supposed,  accom- 
panied the  messengers  who  bore  Paul's  first  epistle  to  Corinth, 
he  very  naturally  carried  out  the  directions  of  that  epistle. 
Who  was  then  with  him  we  do  not  know.  Titus  had  not 
yet  reached  Corinth  to  undertake  this  work  a  seco?id  time  as 
Paul  directed  (8:  6,  16,  17).  Paul's  actions  were  ever  free 
from  guile  or  covetousness — i  Thess.  2:  3-5.]  19  Ye  think 
all  this  time  that  we  are  excusing  ourselves  unto 
you.  In  the  sight  of  God  speak  we  in  Christ.  But 
all  things,  beloved,  are  for  youi-  edifying.  20  For  I 
fear,  lest  by  any  means,  w^hen  I  come,  I  should  find 
you  not  such  as  I  would,  and  should  myself  be  found 
of  you  such  as  ye  would  not;  lest  by  any  means 
there  should  be  strife  [i  Cor.  6:  7],  jealousy  [11:  19,  22], 
wraths,  factions  [i  Cor,  i:  11],  backbitings,  whisper- 
ings, swellings  [i  Cor.  8:  i,  2],  tumults  [disorders];  21 
lest  again  w^hen  I  come  my  God  should  humble  me 
before  you,  and  I  should  mourn  for  many  of  them 
that  have  sinned  heretofore,  and  repented  not  of  the 
uncleanness  and  fornication  and  lasciviousness  which 
they  committed.  [Doubtless  all  the  while  you  have  been 
reading  or  listening  to  my  words  you  have  been  thinking  that 
you  are  sitting  in  judgment  on  my  case,  and  that  I  have  been 
making  my  defense  before  you,  anxiously  hoping  for  a  favorable 
verdict.  Be  not  deceived.  We  can  never  be  judged  by  you, 
but  are  divinely  appointed  a  judge  over  you  (Matt.  19:  28). 
My  only  object  is  to  speak  before  God  in  Christ,  that  is,  to 


240  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

acquaint  you  with  the  truth  as  it  appears  in  God's  sight,  that 
you  may  be  instructed  and  not  left  in  harmful  ignorance.  For 
I  fear  that  even  yet  after  all  this  instruction  you  may  not  profit 
by  it,  so  that  when  I  come  I  may  find  you  not  obedient  as  I 
would  have  you,  and  that  I  may  be  found  of  you  not  gentle  as 
you  would  have  me  to  be.  For  I  expect  to  find  among  you  the 
very  sins  which  I  have  reproved  in  these  epistles,  and  which 
were  there  when  I  last  visited  you  (2:  i).  I  will  not  spare  you 
this  time  as  I  did  then,  but  I  shall  exercise  discipline,  and 
therefore  I  fear  that  I  shall  mourn  for  many  whom  I  shall  be 
compelled  to  deliver  over  to  Satan  (i  Cor.  5:  5),  because  they 
still  impenitently  persist  in  their  unchaste  sins  despite  all  my 
reproof.] 

XIII.  1  This  is  the  third  time  I  am  coming  to  you. 
At  the  mouth  of  two  witnesses  or  three  shall  every 
word  be  established.  [Deut.  19:  15.]  2  1  have  said  be- 
forehand, and  I  do  say  beforehand,  as  when  I  was 
present  the  second  time,  so  now,  being  absent,  to 
them  that  have  sinned  heretofore,  and  to  all  the  rest, 
that,  if  I  come  again,  I  will  not  spare  [The  apostle  here 
declares  that  patience  has  reached  its  just  limit.  Twice  he 
has  been  present  and  has  forborne,  but  at  the  third  coming  he 
will  handle  them  with  rigorous  discipline.  He  will  not,  how- 
ever, proceed  rashly,  nor  will  he  decide  who  is  guilty  by  direct 
or  immediate  revelation,  lest  he  be  regarded  as  arrogating  to 
himself  the  offices  of  both  witness  and  judge.  He  will  proceed 
by  due  legal  form,  and  call  witnesses,  since  they  are  to  be  had, 
and  obviate  the  necessity  of  employing  miraculous  knowledge. 
Some  argue  from  the  context  that  Paul  means  to  say  that  his 
three  visits  will  be,  as  it  were,  three  witnesses  against  them, 
or  that  his  thrice-repeated  threats  are  shown  to  be  true  by 
these  repetitions.  But  such  interpretations  are  fanciful.  There 
may,  however,  be  a  parallelism  in  Paul's  thought;  thus:  Let 
my  three  warnings,  repeated  at  such  long  intervals,  persuade 
you  that  my  words  will  testify  against  me  if  I  do  not  keep  them 
by  punishing  you,  for  I  have  thrice  said  I  would  do  this  thing, 
viz.:  when  I  first  wrote,  when  I  was  present,  and  now,  when 


THE    THIRD    VISIT.     CONCLUSION         241 

I  am  writing  again,  that  I  would  do  this  thing];  3  seeing  that 
ye  seek  a  proof  of  Christ  that  speaketh  in  me;  who 
to  you-w^ard  is  not  weak,  but  is  powerful  in  you:  4 
for  he  w^as  crucified  through  w^eakness,  yet  he  liveth 
through  the  power  of  God.  For  we  also  are  w^eak 
in  him,  but  we  shall  live  with  him  through  the  power 
of  God  toward  you.  [The  apostle  here  gives  the  reason 
why  he  had  so  fully  decided  to  discipline:  they  had  tauntingly 
desired  it.  You  ascribe,  says  he,  weakness  to  the  Christ  who 
speaks  in  me,  and  strength  to  the  Christ,  who,  according  to 
their  profession,  speaks  in  these  false  apostles,  and  you  would 
put  me  to  the  test.  Their  Christ,  ye  say,  is  the  mighty  Keeper 
of  the  Jewish  law,  while  mine  is  the  weak,  crucified  Christ. 
But  you  should  remember  that  he  has  not  been  weak  toward 
you,  either  in  my  ministry  (12:  12),  or  in  miracles  and  judg- 
ments (6:  7;  I  Cor.  2:  4,  5;  11:  30),  or  in  the  bestowal  of  gifts 
(i  Cor.  i:  7),  for,  though  he  did  indeed  manifest  through  the 
weakness  of  our  humanity  a  mortal  life  susceptible  to  death  by 
crucifixion  (Phil.  2:  7,  8;  i  Cor.  i:  23;  Heb.  2:  14);  yet,  per 
contra,  through  the  power  of  God  the  Father  working  in  him 
(Rom.  i:  4;  6:4;  Eph.  i:  20),  he  overcame  this  weakness  and 
Hves  again.  And  by  virtue  of  our  union  with  him,  we  follow 
the  pattern  of  his  life  in  our  dealings  with  you;  for  you  who  have 
beheld  our  physical  weakness,  infirmities,  gentle  forbearance, 
etc.  (10:  10;  12:  5,  9,  10),  and  have,  as  it  were,  put  our  influence 
and  power  to  death  among  you,  shall  behold  also  in  me  the  same 
divine  power  of  God  effecting  a  resurrection  of  us  because  of  our 
union  with  Christ,  that  we  may  exercise  our  rightful  authority 
over  you.  We  should  note  the  direct  assertion  of  inspiration, 
and  the  willingness  to  have  it  tested  contained  in  verse  3.] 
5  Try  your  own  selves,  whether  ye  are  in  the  faith; 
prove  your  own  selves.  Or  know^  ye  not  as  to  your  own 
selves,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  in  you?  unless  indeed  ye 
be  reprobate.  6  But  I  hope  that  ye  shall  know  that 
we  are  not  reprobate.  [Ye  who  are  so  eager  to  put  me  to 
the  test  as  to  whether  I  am  united  with  Christ,  would  exercise  a 
truer  wisdom  if  you  tested  your  own  selves  to  see  whether  you  are 


242    SECOND  E^PISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

in  possession  of  that  faith  which  should  unite  you  with  Christ — 
yea,  test  your  own  selves  and  do  not  fooHshly  wait  for  me  to 
apply  the  rigors  of  my  testing.  Ye  seek  to  know  whether 
Christ  is  in  me,  but  the  obvious,  immediate  way  of  testing  this 
is  to  see  if  I  have  been  able  to  impart  Christ  to  you.  Or  have 
you  indeed  lost  all  consciousness  of  Christ  being  in  you,  using 
you  as  his  temple  ?  Compare  John  15:4,  5;  i  John  3:  24;  Gal. 
2:20;  4:  19;  Eph.  3:  17;  Col.  i:  27.  Surely  you  have  this  con- 
sciousness which  is  the  conclusive  test  of  my  ministry  (3:  1-3; 
I  Cor.  9:  2),  unless  indeed  ye  are  proved  to  be  no  Christians  at 
all,  by  the  application  of  this  test.  But  I  hope  that  by  my  test- 
ing when  I  come,  the  true  authority  of  Christ  in  me  may  be 
vindicated,  and  that,  testing  me,  you  may  find  me  approved  by 
the  testing.  Reprobate  means  that  which  fails  to  stand  the 
test  (Jer.  6:  30).  It  is  evident  to  the  casual  observer  that  Paul 
uses  the  word  in  an  entirely  different  sense  from  that  horrible 
meaning  read  into  it  by  Calvin.]  7  Now  we  pray  to  God 
that  ye  do  no  evil;  not  that  we  may  appear  approved, 
but  that  ye  may  do  that  which  is  honorable,  though 
we  be  as  reprobate.  8  For  we  can  do  nothing  against 
the  truth,  but  for  the  truth.  [While  hoping  or  expecting 
to  be  vindicated,  his  prayer  is  of  a  different  sort.  We  pray, 
says  he,  that  you  may  be  kept  from  evil,  and  thus  escape  the 
discipline.  We  do  not  thus  pray  for  the  sake  of  approving  our- 
selves by  showing  our  power  to  restrain  you  from  evil  (and 
thus  our  approval  would  result  from  our  prayer),  but  we  thus 
pray  because  of  our  earnest  desire  for  your  righteousness.  We 
would  have  you  do  that  which  is  honorable,  even  though  you 
thereby  deprive  us  of  the  opportunity  of  vindicating  ourself,  so 
that  we  shall  still  be  looked  upon  by  you  as  untrustworthy,  and  not 
capable  of  enduring  tests.  Compare  with  the  like  unselfishness 
at  Rom.  9:  3.  For  our  apostolic  power  is  given  to  us  to  use,  not 
against,  but  for,  the  truth.  We  are  powerless  against  anything 
which  is  right  and  true.  If  ye,  therefore,  do  the  truth,  you 
withdraw  your  demand  for  a  test  of  us,  and  deprive  us  of  this 
chance  of  vindicating  ourselves  by  showing  our  power,  and 
this  we  desire  that  you  should  do.]     9  For  we  rejoice,  when 


THE    THIRD    VISIT.     CONCLUSION         243 

we  are  weak,  and  ye  are  strong:  this  we  also  pray  for, 
even  your  perfecting.  10  For  this  cause  I  write  these 
things  while  absent,  that  I  may  not  when  present  deal 
sharply,  according  to  the  authority  which  the  Lord 
gave  me  for  building  up,  and  not  for  casting  down. 
[Here  Paul  amplifies  the  thought  of  verses  7  and  8.  If  the 
Corinthians  are  only  perfected  in  strength,  if  they  are  mighty 
in  faith  and  righteousness,  he  is  content  to  be  looked  upon  as 
weak  by  them  ;  and  therefore  to  spare  himself  the  pains  of  dis- 
ciplining them  at  his  coming,  he  has  taken  the  milder  method 
of  doing  so  by  letter.  For  it  indeed  pained  him  to  use  divine 
power  in  tearing  down  a  church,  when  that  power  was  given 
him  for  the  purpose  of  building  up  churches.  In  short,  Paul 
was  content  that  they  should  look  upon  him  as  no  apostle  at  all, 
provided  they  could  do  so  without  any  injiiiy  to  themselves. 
He  was  zealous  for  his  apostolic  authority  over  them,  because 
without  his  guiding  power  they  would  make  shipwreck  of  the 
faith.]  11  Finally,  brethren,  farewell.  [Literally,  rejoice;  a 
reverting  to  the  purpose  declared  in  i:  24.  Compare  Phil.  4:  4.] 
Be  perfected  [Eph.  4:  13;  Matt.  5:  48];  be  comforted  [i:  6; 
7:  8-13;  I  Thess.  4:  18];  be  of  the  same  mind  [i  Cor.  i:  10; 
Phil.  2:2;  I  Pet.  3:8;  Rom.  12:  16,  18];  live  in  peace  [Eph. 
4:  3]:  and  the  God  of  love  and  peace  shall  be  with  you. 
12  Salute  one  another  with  a  holy  kiss.  [Rom.  16:  16; 
I  Cor.  16:  20;  I  Pet.  5:  14.  See  note  on  i  Thess.  5:  6.]  13 
All  the  saints  salute  you.  [That  is,  all  the  saints  with  me 
in  Macedonia.]  14  The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  be  with  you  all.  [This  is  the  full  apostoHc  benedic- 
tion. It  contains  three  blessings  respectively  derived  from  the 
three  divine  sources.  It  occurs  nowhere  else  in  the  Scripture. 
Coming,  as  it  does,  after  this,  the  most  severe  of  letters,  it 
reminds  one  that  the  greatest  showers  of  blessing  often  follow 
the  fiercest  flashes  of  lightning  and  the  mightiest  reverberations 
of  thunder.  Thus  closes  Paul's  second  epistle  to  the  church  at 
Corinth.  It  evidently  furthered  the  good  work  set  in  motion 
by  the  first  epistle  and  by  Titus;  for  when  Paul  a  little  later 


244   SECOND  EPISTLE  TO   THE  CORINTHIANS 

wrote  his  letter  to  the  Romans  from  Corinth,  he  was  evidently 
in  a  calm  and  peaceful  frame  of  mind.  Also  compare  lo:  15, 
16  and  notes,  with  Rom.  15:22-24.  Moreover,  the  collection 
for  Jerusalem  was  taken,  and  was  apparently  generous,  for  Paul 
accompanied  them  who  bore  it  to  Jerusalem.  Compare  i  Cor. 
16:  4  and  note,  with  Rom.  16:  18;  Acts  22:  4.] 


INTRODUCTION  245 


EPISTLE   TO  THE  GALATIANS. 

INTRODUCTION. 

This  epistle,  unlike  the  other  church  epistles  of  Paul,  is  ad- 
dressed, not  to  a  single  congregation  dwelling  in  a  city,  but  to 
the  churches  of  a  district — "  the  Galatic  Land."  The  Roman 
province  of  Galatia,  lying  in  the  central  portion  of  Asia  Minor, 
was  larger  than  "the  Galatic  Land,"  for  it  included  several 
other  districts.  The  territory  of  the  Galatians  originally  be- 
longed to  the  Phrygians,  but  certain  tribes  of  Gauls,  as  French- 
men were  then  called,  moved  by  their  restless,  conquest-lov- 
ing spirit,  and  by  .he  pressure  of  rival  tribes  at  home,  invaded 
to  the  southeastward  and  attempted  to  overrun  Greece.  Being 
repulsed  at  Delphi,  they  crossed  the  Bosphorus,  and,  after 
many  conflicts,  were  finally  content  to  confine  themselves  to 
this  territory,  which,  as  we  see,  eventually  bore  their  name. 
This  occurred  about  B.  C.  279.  In  B.  C.  189  they  were  con- 
quered by  the  Romans,  but  were  still  permitted  to  retain  their 
kings.  In  B.  C.  25  their  self-government  was  taken  away  and 
they  became  part  of  the  Roman  province  which  was  also 
named  for  them.  They  were  divided  into  three  tribes,  each 
occupying  subdistricts,  with  the  cities  of  Tavium,  Pessinus 
and  Ancyra  (now  Angora),  as  their  respective  capitals, 
which  last  was  also  capital  of  the  whole  Roman  province  of 
Galatia.  Though  speaking  Greek,  they  also  retained  their 
language,  so  that  Jerome  leads  us  to  believe  that  a  Galatian 
and  a  Frenchman  could  have  conversed  together  with  ease  as 
late  as  the  fourth  century  A.  D.  Though  a  part  of  the  Celtic 
race,  which  includes  the  French,  Welsh,  Irish  and  Scotch, 
they  were  Frenchmen,  and  their  characteristics  are  described 
by  Julius  Caesar,  who  says:  "  The  infirmity  of  the  Gauls  is  that 
they  are  fickle  in  their  resolves  and  fond  of  change,  and  not  to 
be  trusted."  And  Thierry  speaks  of  them  thus:  "Frank,  im- 
petuous, impressible,  eminently  intelligent,  but  at  the  same 
17 


246  EPISTLE  TO   THE  GALATIANS 

time  extemely  changeable,  inconstant,  fond  of  show,  perpet- 
ually quarreling,  the  fruit  of  excessive  vanity."  Paul  had 
planted  churches  among  them  and  had  revisited  and  confirmed 
these  churches;  but  after  his  departure  certain  Judaizers  had 
entered  among  them,  and  had  persuaded  them  that  becoming 
Jews  was  a  condition  precedent  to  their  becoming  Christians, 
and  hence  they  could  not  be  saved  without  circumcision. 
Being  met  by  the  teaching  which  the  Galatians  had  learned 
from  Paul,  these  Judaizers  had  felt  the  necessity  of  destroying 
Paul's  influence.  They  undertook  to  do  this  by  denying  that 
he  was  an  apostle,  and  asserting  that  he  was,  if  anything,  only 
an  unfaithful  messenger  of  the  other  apostles.  The  main  pur- 
pose, therefore,  of  this  epistle  is  to  establish  the  fact  that  Chris- 
tianity was  a  religion  independent  of  Judaism,  and  that  Paul 
was  an  apostle  independent  of  the  twelve.  The  date  of  the 
epistle  can  not  be  determined  with  accuracy,  but  it  was  evi- 
dently written  sometime  during  the  third  missionary  tour; 
for  Paul  had  been  twice  in  Galatia  when  he  wrote  it,  having 
confirmed  the  Galatians  on  his  second  visit.  Compare  Acts 
i6:  6;  18:23;  Gal.  1:9;  5:21.  It  has  been  said  that  it  was 
written  from  Ephesus,  or  Troas,  or  Macedonia,  or  Corinth. 
There  are  several  internal  evidences  which  cause  us  to  prefer 
one  or  the  other  of  the  two  places  last  named,  and  to  place  the 
date  in  A.  D.  57,  in  the  short  interval  between  the  writing  of 
2  Corinthians  and  Romans.  The  two  Corinthian  letters,  with 
Romans  and  Galatians,  if  we  may  judge  by  their  similarity,  were 
all  written  at  about  the  same  period,  and,  in  fact,  the  points  of 
resemblance  between  these  epistles  are  so  many  and  so  strik- 
ing that  to  concede  the  authenticity  of  one,  is  to  practically 
concede  that  of  all.  Hence  all  four  epistles  have  been  recog- 
nized as  authentic  even  by  Renan  and  Baur.  For  incidental 
similarities,  such  as  the  mentioning  of  Damascus  and  Titus, 
compare  2  Cor.  11:  32  and  Gal.  i:  17;  2  Cor.  2:7;  8:  12  and 
Gal.  2:  1-3.  For  verbal  similarities,  compare  2  Cor.  10:  i-ii 
and  Gal.  4:  18,  20;  2  Cor.  12:  20,  21  and  Gal.  4:  19-21;  2  Cor. 
9:  6  and  Gal.  6:  7;  2  Cor.  11:  2  and  GaL  4:  17;  2  Cor.  11:  20 
and  Gal.  5:  15.     The  relation  between  Galatians  and  Romans 


INTRODUCTION  247 

is  argumentative,  for  Paul  discussed  the  relations  of  the  law 
and  the  gospel  in  each.  The  relation  between  2  Corinthians 
and  Galatians  is  personal,  for  Paul  is  defending  himself  against 
similar  charges  in  each.  For  other  relations  between  Galatians 
and  Romans  see  Rom.  8:  14-17  and  Gal.  4:  6,  7;  Rom.  10:  5 
and  Gal.  3:  12;  Rom.  4:  13,  14,  16  and  Gal.  3:  14,  16,  29;  Rom. 
11:  31  and  Gal,  3:  22.  The  epistle  may  be  loosely  divided  into 
three  sections  of  two  chapters  each,  as  follows:  Part  i — chapters 
I  and  2,  Arguments  sustaining  Paul's  gospel  and  apostolic 
office.  Part  2— chapters  3  and  4,  Justification  is  by  faith  in 
Christ  and  not  by  legalism  as  proved  by  Scripture.  Part  3 — 
chapters  5  and  6,  Exhortations  to  steadfastness  and  faithful- 
ness to  Christian  duty.  The  epistle  has  been  in  all  ages  the 
stronghold  of  evangelical  Christianity  in  defending  itself  against 
ecclesiasticism  and  ritualism  of  all  kinds.  It  was  the  favorite 
book  of  Martin  Luther,  who  wrote  three  commentaries  upon  it. 
But  Luther  strained  the  words  of  Paul  and  drew  from  them 
such  extreme  conclusions  that  John  Wesley  regarded  him 
as  guilty  of  blasphemy.  But  the  perversions  of  this  precious 
epistle  in  no  way  militate  against  it  or  its  proper  use. 


248  EPISTLE    TO    THE   GALATIANS 

EPISTLE  TO  THE   GALATIANS. 

PART   FIRST. 

ARGUMENTS    SUSTAINING   PAUL'S  GOSPEL 
AND   APOSTOLIC   OFFICE. 

i:  1-2: 17. 

I. 

PAUL'S    GOSPEL  AND   APOSTLESHIP    DIVINELY 
DERIVED. 

i:  1-24. 

1  Paul,  an  apostle  (not  from  men,  neither  through 
man,  but  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  God  the  Father, 
who  raised  him  from  the  dead),  2  and  all  the  brethren 
that  are  with  me,  unto  the  churches  of  Galatia  [These 
two  verses  form  not  only  the  text  of  this  first  section,  but  also 
the  keynote  of  the  entire  epistle.  Without  a  moment's  intro- 
dqctiOn,  Paul  passes  at  once  to  that  which  caused  him  to 
write,  viz.:  the  challenge  of  his  apostleship.  If  it  was  urged 
against  him  that  he  was  but  the  faithless  messenger  of  the  other 
apostles,  he  replies  by  asserting,  in  the  clearest,  most  forceful 
way,  the  nature  of  his  apostleship.  Both  as  to  source  and 
agency  it  was  divine.  The  call  to  it  came  from  God  and  not 
from  men,  and  the  call  came  through  the  agency  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  not  through  the  agency  of  any  man.  The  election  of 
Matthias  throws  light  upon  these  words  (Acts  i:  23-26),  for  if  he 
was  not  called  of  the  apostles,  he  was  at  least  called  through 
their  agency.  Paul's  call,  on  the  contrary,  was  from  the  lips  of 
Jesus  himself,  and  had  in  it  no  human  mixture  whatever.  Why 
Paul  speaks  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  not  clear.  It  has  been 
thought  that  Paul  could  claim  a  call  from  God  the  Father, 
because  the  Father,  by  the  resurrection  of  the  Son,  gave  of- 
ficial countenance  to  the  acts  of  the  Son.  Again  it  is  thought 


PAUL'S  GOSPEL  AND  APOSTLESHIP      249 

that  Paul  has  in  mind  the  fact  that  Jesus  rose  from  the 
dead  for  our  justification  (Rom.  4:  25),  and  since  justification 
by  faith  in  Christ  is  the  main  theme  of  the  epistle,  he  mentions 
the  resurrection  to  pave  the  way  for  the  introduction  of  tiiat 
theme.  But  it  seems  more  likely,  from  the  context,  that  he 
has  in  mind  the  fact  that  his  own  call  came  after  the  resurrec* 
ticn  of  Jesus,  and  so  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  was  an  essential 
element  in  the  proof  of  his  apostleship.  Paul  mentions  the 
brethren  who  were  with  him.  For  a  probable  list  of  them  see 
Acts  20:4;  21:  16.  Paul  does  not  mention  them  by  name,  as 
he  does  in  the  epistles  to  the  Thessalonians  and  Corinthians, 
because  the  letter  is  of  a  more  personal  nature  than  any  of  these 
others.  But  he  does  mention  them  to  let  the  Galalians  know 
that  others  sympathized  with  him  in  all  that  he  wrote.  The 
address  implies  that  there  were  many  churches  in  Galatia,  yet 
to  none  of  them  does  he  attach  any  honorable  title,  for  none  of 
them  does  he  offer  the  usual  expression  of  thanksgiving,  and 
to  none  of  them  does  he  speak  the  customary  words  of  com- 
mendation and  praise.  This  ominous  silence  on  the  part  of  the 
apostle  constitutes  a  most  telling  rebuke]:  3  Grace  to  you 
and  peace  from  God  the  Father,  and  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  [see  i  Cor.  i:  i  and  note],  4  who  gave  himself 
for  our  sins,  that  he  might  deliver  us  out  of  this 
present  evil  world,  according  to  the  will  of  our  God 
and  Father:  5  to  w^hom  he  the  glory  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen.  [The  mention  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  bene- 
diction, coupled  with  the  thought  which  was  uppermost  in  his 
mind,  namely,  that  the  Galatians  were  forsaking  salvation 
through  Jesus  in  the  hope  that  they  might  obtain  it  through  the 
law  of  Moses,  leads  Paul  in  these  very  opening  sentences  to 
fully  set  forth  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  Christ,  the  deliverance 
through  him,  and  the  will  of  God,  who  ordered  that  atonement 
and  deliverance  should  come  in  this  way.  Gratitude  to 
Christ,  who,  owning  his  life,  might  have  retained  it,  but  freely 
gave  it  for  us,  and  desire  for  deliverance  from  this  present  evil 
world,  and  respect  for  the  sovereign  will  of  God  our  Father,  are 
three  strong  motives  prompting  us  to  be  steadfast  in  the  profession 


250  EPISTLE   TO   THE  GALATIANS 

of  our  Christian  faith.  To  each  of  these  motives  Paul  appeals.  It 
is  the  apostle's  habit,  whenever  he  has  occasion  to  make  mention 
of  the  mercy  of  God,  to  break  forth  in  expressions  of  thanksgiv- 
ing (2  Cor.  9:  15;  Eph.  3:  20),  and  he  follows  his  custom  here.] 

6  I  marvel  that  ye  are  so  quickly  removing  from  him 
that  called  you  in  the  grace  of  Christ  unto  a  different 
gospel  [The  word  translated  "marvel"  conveys  the  idea  of 
admiration  rather  than  of  wonder.  Their  fickleness  was  suf- 
ficiently striking  to  be  brilliant.  Since,  if  Paul  wrote  this 
letter  from  Corinth  on  his  third  missionary  tour,  it  was  three 
years  since  he  had  been  with  them,  commentators  have  been 
tempted  to  choose  some  other  date  comporting  better  with 
"quickly,"  for  three  years  is  rather  a  long  period.  But  Paul 
refers  to  moral  speed.  The  Galatians  were  changing  their 
position  hastily  and  without  due  consideration.  In  doing  this 
they  were  withdrawing  from  the  God  who  called  them  (for 
"  him  "  refers  to  God,  and  not  to  Paul — i:  15  ;  5:8;  Rom.  8: 
30;  I  Cor.  i:  9;  I  Thess.  2:  12;  5:  24  ;  2  Tim.  i:  9)  and  from 
the  grace,  or  liberty,  peace,  etc.,  of  the  kingdom  into  which 
they  had  been  called,  for  what  ?  for  a  new  gospel  which  was 
not  worthy  of  the  name.  There  can  be  but  one  gospel;  that 
there  might  be  two,  between  which  men  might  choose, 
is    something    which    the    apostle    denies    in  the  next  verse]; 

7  which  is  not  another  gospel :  only  there  are  some 
that  trouble  you,  and  would  pervert  the  gospel  of 
Christ.  [This  verse  defines  the  meaning  of  that  which 
precedes,  so  as  to  correct  the  false  impression  that  there  might 
be  two  gospels,  similar  in  some  respects  and  equally  effective. 
The  folly  of  such  a  thought  is  ironically  set  forth  at  2  Cor.  11: 
4.  There  is,  says  the  apostle,  emphatically  but  one  gospel,  but 
there  are  some  who  would  revolutionize  you  (the  word 
"trouble  "  has  this  force)  by  perverting  the  gospel,  making  it 
an  unholy,  ineffectual  compound  of  living  truth  and  obsolete 
Jewish  forms.  His  failure  to  name  the  leaders  in  this  move- 
ment shows  his  contempt  for  them.  They  were  parties  un- 
known and  deserving  to  remain  unknown.  One  can  not  help 
wishing  that  modern  churches  would  waken  to  the  truth  here 


PAUL'S   GOSPEL   AND  APOSTLESHIP     251 

spoken  by  the  apostle.  There  is  and  must  ever  be  but  one 
gospel.  There  is  not  a  separate  gospel  suited  to  the  prejudices 
or  so-called  "  tastes  "  of  each  sect  or  denomination.  There  is 
but  one  gospel,  and  hence  all  church  divisions  result  from  per- 
versions of  that  gospel,  and  all  such  secessions  or  revolutionary 
divisions  are  but  the  beguiling  of  Satan,  drawing  disciples  from 
"the  simplicity  and  purity  that  is  toward  Christ" — 2  Cor.  ii: 
3.]  8  But  though  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  should 
preach  unto  you  any  gospel  other  than  that  which 
we  preached  unto  you,  let  him  be  anathema.  9  As 
we  have  said  before,  so  say  I  now  again.  If  any  man 
preacheth  unto  you  any  gospel  other  than  that  which 
ye  received,  let  him  be  anathema.  [Here  the  apostle  sup- 
poses an  impossibility,  that  he  may  thereby  show  that  it  is  not 
possible  to  make  any  alterations  in  the  gospel  which  God  would 
sanction  or  accept.  No  man  could  make  such  alterations ;  no, 
not  even  an  angel.  Chrysostom  suggests  that  these  gospel  per- 
verters  claim  for  their  teaching  the  authority  of  the  older  apos- 
tles, Peter,  James,  John,  etc.,  and  interprets  Paul  thus: 
"  Don't  tell  me  of  John,  don't  tell  me  of  James.  If  one  of  the 
highest  angels  were  to  come,  corrupting  the  truth  originally 
preached,  he  must  be  rejected.  .  .  .  When  the  truth  is  in 
question,  respect  of  persons  is  inadmissible."  In  this  connec- 
tion it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Galatians  had  at  first  re- 
ceived Paul  as  an  angel  of  light  (Gal.  4:  14),  and  they  were 
now  probably  so  receiving  these  perverters.  Also  we  may 
observe  that  the  words  of  angels  would  be  valueless  if  spokefi 
in  an  improper  spirit  (i  Cor.  13:  i),  and  lastly  that  the  sayings 
of  Jesus  differ  from  the  sayings  of  the  law  in  this  very  respect, 
viz.:  they  are  weightier  than  any  words  conveyed  through  the 
agency  of  angels  (Heb.  1:2;  2:1-3).  Upon  all  such  per- 
verters Paul  pours  out  the  anathema  of  God,  devoting  them  to 
destruction.  See  i  Cor.  16:  22,  In  later  centuries  the  anath- 
ema became  associated  with  excommunication,  until  the  two 
words  became  convertible  terms;  but  no  such  confusion  of 
terms  existed  in  Paul's  day,  and  his  words  mean  more  even 
than  severance  from  the  church.     Moreover,  excommunication 


252  EPISTLE  TO   THE  GALATIANS 

would  not  affect  angels,  since  they  are  not  members  of  our 
churches.  Paul's  language  shows  that  at  his  last  visit  (Acts  i8: 
23)  he  had  warned  the  Galatians  against  such  Judaizers,  and 
he  now  makes  the  warning  more  effectual  by  repetition.  His 
reference  to  his  former  words  suggests  surprise  that  they  should 
have  so  far  forgotten  them  as  to  be  misled  despite  them.  The 
strong  wording  of  this  entire  passage  forms  a  solemn  warning 
against  the  sin  of  corrupting  the  gospel.  All  offices,  ap- 
pearances and  reputations  to  the  contrary,  whoso  perverts  the 
divine  truth  is  an  enemy  to  Christ,  and  rests  under  the  curse  of 
God.  Compare  Matt.  7:  22,  23.  And  who  will  presume  to  say 
how  large  or  important  a  change  must  be  to  constitute  a  perver- 
sion? It  is  best,  as  Dean  Howson  observes,  to  understand  Paul 
as  "precluding  any  deviation  of  any  kind  from  the  original  gos- 
pel."] 10  For  am  I  now  seeking  the  favor  of  men,  or 
of  God  ?  or  am  I  striving  to  please  men  ?  if  I  were 
still  pleasing  men,  I  should  not  be  a  servant  of  Christ. 
[Paul's  enemies  accused  him  of  being  a  time-serving,  man- 
pleasing  factionist,  who,  to  gain  for  himself  a  large  party  of  ad- 
herents, had  allowed  the  Gentiles  undue  liberty,  even  receiving 
them  into  the  fellowship  of  the  church  without  subjecting  them 
to  the  essential  rite  of  circumcision,  thus  being  content  to  let 
them  rest  in  a  low  state  of  imperfection  and  perhaps  even  risk 
their  salvation  rather  than  alienate  their  affections  by  telling 
them  unpalatable  truths,  or  making  unwelcome  requirements. 
Paul  therefore  makes  his  present  conduct  an  answer  to  all  this. 
Neither  in  his  present  utterance  or  in  his  life  since  his  conver- 
sion had  he  proved  himself  such  a  time-server.  On  the  con- 
trary, however,  whenever  a  crisis  arose  requiring  him  to  make 
a  choice  between  pleasing  man  and  God,  he  had  spoken  God's 
unpleasant  truths  freely,  regardless  of  their  effect  on  human 
friendship.  Whatever  he  had  done  when  he  was  a  Pharisee 
to  please  priest  or  people,  he  was  not  continuing  to  do  so  now. 
He  was  no  longer  a  Jew,  a  Pharisee,  or  a  persecutor  of  Christians 
as  he  would  be  if  he  were  pleasing  men,  but  he  was  a  servant  of 
Christ;  though  being  so  involved  being  misunderstood,  hated, 
slandered,  persecuted  and  reviled.]     11  For  I  make  known 


SUSTAINING   PAUL'S    GOSPEL  2b'6 

to  you,  brethren  [Paul's  affection  will  crop  out],  as  touch- 
ing the  gospel  which  was  preached  by  me,  that  it  is 
not  after  man.  12  For  neither  did  I  receive  it  from 
man,  nor  was  I  taught  it,  but  it  came  to  me  through 
revelation  of  Jesus  Christ.  [I  want  you  to  understand  that 
the  gospel  which  I  preach  was  in  no  sense  my  own  invention  or 
production,  for  it  was  of  a  nature  not  after'man;  i.  e.,  not  such 
as  man  could  design  or  devise.  And  the  method  by  which  I 
received  it  proves  that  it  was  not  of  a  human  origin,  and  hence 
also  not  of  a  human  character;  for  I  did  not  receive  it  from 
man,  nor  did  I  acquire  it  1  y  the  slow  and  progressive  method 
of  teaching,  but  it  came  to  me  through  revelation  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Jesus  revealed  himself  to  Paul  on  the  way  to  Damas- 
cus and  he  was  soon  preaching  the  gospel  in  that  city.  There- 
fore Paul's  revelations  must  have  been  received  about  the  time 
of  his  conversion,  and  most  probably  during  his  sojourn  in 
Arabia.  As  to  exactly  when  they  were  received  Paul  himself 
is  silent;  but  as  to  the  manner,  he  declares  that  he  received 
them  from  Jesus,  so  his  gospel  was  from  the  same  source  as 
that  of  the  other  apostles.  The  rest  of  the  chapter  is  taken  up 
in  proving  the  statements  of  these  two  verses.]  13  For  ye 
have  heard  of  my  manner  of  life  in  time  past  in  the 
Jews'  religion,  how  that  beyond  measure  I  persecuted 
the  church  of  God,  and  made  havoc  of  it:  14  and  I 
advanced  in  the  Jews'  religion  beyond  many  of  mine 
own  age  among  my  countrymen,  being  more  exceed- 
ingly zealous  for  the  traditions  of  my  fathers.  [Paul's 
first  proposition  is  that  though  it  might  be  possible  that  he  was 
taught  the  gospel  by  men,  or  that  he  might  have  attempted  to 
originate  it,  it  was  certainly  highly  improbable ;  for  his  whole 
early  life  showed  a  strong  antipathy  and  aversion  to  such  teach- 
ing, and  an  intense  love  for  that  very  form  of  teaching  which 
was  now  being  used  to  pervert  the  gospel.  Of  these  very  facts 
the  Galatians  themselves  were  in  a  manner  witnesses;  for  they 
had  doubtless  heard  the  common  report  concerning  them,  and 
had  also  learned  them  from  Paul  himself  at  a  time  when  they 
had  no  bearing  on  the  question  now  discussed.     Paul  made  no 


254  EPISTLE    TO    THE    GALATIANS 

secret  of  his  past  life  (i  Cor.  15:  9  ;  i  Tim.  i:  13;  Acts  22:  4, 
5;  26:  10,  11).  Thus  the  story  of  his  miraculous  call,  with 
which  they  were  perfectly  familiar,  was  evidently  true.  By 
"my  fathers"  Paul  means  his  spiritual  fathers,  the  Pharisees. 
He  was  zealous  for  the  whole  Jewish  religion,  as  expounded 
by  the  Pharisees,  with  .all  its  forms,  rites,  laws,  etc.,  both 
divine  and  human.]  15  But  when  it  was  the  good 
pleasure  of  God,  who  separated  me,  even  from  my 
mother's  womb,  and  called  me  through  his  grace,  16 
to  reveal  his  Son  in  me,  that  I  might  preach  him 
among  the  Gentiles  ;  straightway  I  conferred  not  with 
flesh  and  blood  [anything  mortal]:  17  neither  went  I  up 
to  Jerusalem  to  them  that  w^ere  apostles  before  me : 
but  I  went  away  into  Arabia ;  and  again  I  returned 
unto  Damascus.  [Paul's  conversion,  being  too  well  known 
to  the  Galatians  to  require  restatement,  is  simply  referred  to  in 
the  phrases  "called  me,"  "returned  to  Damascus,"  etc.  He 
appeals  to  that  conversion  to  show  that  he  was  neither  man's 
apostle  nor  even  an  apostle's  apostle,  but  a  true  apostle  of  God. 
Moreover,  even  he  himself  had  no  part  in  the  call,  for  he 
could  in  no  way  have  fitted  or  qualified  himself  to  be  such, 
since  God  had  called  him  to  the  place  from  birth,  as  he  had 
done  Moses,  John  the  Baptist,  Isaiah  (Isa.  49:  i),  and  Jeremiah 
(Jer.  i:  5).  His  call  to  be  an  apostle  was,  therefore,  due  to  the 
free  grace  of  God  and  not  because  of  anything  which  Paul  was 
as  a  man,  or  held  as  derived  from  man.  Moreover,  in  purpose 
the  call  was  purely  apostolic,  for  he  was  called  to  receive  illumi- 
nation, that,  having  received  a  revelation  of  Christ,  he  might  be 
sent  forth  to  enlighten  the  Gentiles  with  it.  And  this  illumina- 
tion was  absolutely  independent  of  any  person  or  persons  at  Jeru- 
salem, for  he  had  received  it  in  another  land,  and  it  was  made 
wholly  sufficient  without  any  recourse  to  Jerusalem,  as  was 
clear  from  the  fact  that  he  had  not  turned  to  that  city  for  more 
light,  but  had  gone  into  Arabia,  and,  returnrng  to  Damascus, 
had  en-tered  upon  his  ministry  (Acts  9:  19,  22 ;  26:  20).  The 
sojourn  in  Arabia  must  have  been  brief.  Paul's  predestination 
to  the  office  of  an  apostle  is  an  entirely  different  thing  from 


SUSTAINING  PAUL'S   GOSPEL  255 

predestination  to  salvation,  for  he  nowhere  claims  the  latter — 
I  Cor.  9:  27.]  18  Then  after  three  years  I  went  up  to 
Jerusalem  to  visit  Cephas,  and  tarried  with  him  fifteen 
days.  19  But  other  of  the  apostles  saw  I  none,  save 
James  the  Lord's  brother.  20  Now  touching  the  things 
which  I  write  unto  you,  behold,  before  God,  I  lie  not. 

21  Then  I  came  into  the  regions  of  Syria  and  Cilicia. 

22  And  I  was  still  unknown  by  face  unto  the  churches 
of  Judaea  which  were  in  Christ:  23  but  they  only 
heard  say.  He  that  once  persecuted  us  now  preacheth 
the  faith  of  which  he  once  made  havoc;  24  and  they 
glorified  God  in  me.  [The  term  "three  years"  may  be 
taken  to  mean  three  full  years,  or  one  year  and  parts  of 
two  others.  Assuming  that  Paul  was  converted  in  A.  D.  37, 
the  visit  to  Jerusalem  took  place  somewhere  between  A.  D.  38 
and  40.  Luke  describes  this  same  period  as  "many  days" 
(Acts  9:  23).  For  a  curious  parallel  see  i  Kings  2:  38,  39. 
Persecution  drove  Paul  from  Damascus  (Acts  9:  22-25  \  2  Cor. 
11:  31,  32),  and  the  desire  to  form  the  acquaintance  of  Peter 
led  him  to  Jerusalem.  The  James  whom  he  met  was,  as  de- 
scribed, "the  Lord's  brother,"  and  was  neither  James,  the 
son  of  Zebedee,  nor  James,  the  son  of  Alphaeus.  In  fact,  he 
was  not  properly  an  apostle,  but  was  called  such  probably  because 
of  his  nearness  to  Jesus  and  his  great  influence.  For  further 
information  concerning  him,  see  "  Fourfold  Gospel,"  page  225. 
Paul's  reasons  for  leaving  Jerusalem  are  found  at  Acts  9:  29, 
30;  22:  17-21.  Cilicia  was  commonly  coupled  with  Syria  in 
popular  phrase  ;  for,  though  part  of  Asia  Minor,  it  was  cut  off 
from  that  district  by  the  high  ridge  of  Mt.  Taurus,  and  so 
formed  social  and  commercial  affinities  with  Syria.  The  gist 
of  Paul's  argument  is  this:  My  gospel  did  not  come  to  me 
from  Jerusalem,  for,  i.  I  was  in  no  haste  to  go  there.  2.  I 
did  not  go  there  for  the  purpose  of  perfecting  my  knowledge 
of  the  gospel.  3.  I  was  not  there  long  enough  to  perfect  such 
knowledge.  4.  Leaving  there,  I  was  conscious  of  no  de- 
ficiency of  knowledge,  but  went  at  once  to  localities  far  dis- 
tant, and  was  not  personally  known  in  the  regions  contiguous 


256  EPISTLE    TO    THE    GALATIANS 

to  Jerusalem,  as  I  must  have  been  had  I  lingered  in  that  city 
long  enough  to  learn  the  gospel  history.  5.  But  I  was  known 
to  them  by  my  repentance,  and  by  works  for  which  they 
praised  God,  which  facts  show  that  I  was  recognized  by  them 
as  proficient  in  a  gospel  which  I  did  not  learn  from  them.] 


II. 

PAUL'S    GOSPEL   APOSTOLICALLY   APPROVED. 
HIS   EQUALITY    WITH    PETER. 

2: 1-21. 

[Paul,  having  shown  that  his  gospel  was  independent  of  the 
powers  at  Jerusalem,  proceeds  to  prove  that  it  was  fully  en- 
dorsed by  them,  and  so  he  was  not  a  false  apostle,  as  his  ene- 
mies represented  him  to  be.]  1  Then  after  the  space  of 
fourteen  years  [/.  e.,  after  his  conversion,  or  about  A.  D.  51] 
I  went  up  again  to  Jerusalem  with  Barnabas,  taking 
Titus  also  with  me.  [Paul  omits  his  second  visit  to  Jerusa- 
lem, which  took  place  about  A.  D.  44  (Acts  11:30;  12:35). 
It  is  not  needful  to  mention  this  visit,  for  it  was  a  brief  one, 
and  made  at  a  time  when  persecution  raged  there,  and  when 
James,  the  son  of  Zebedee,  was  beheaded,  and  Peter  cast  into 
prison.  It  was  no  time  for  conference,  and  had  no  bearing 
whatever  on  Paul's  apostleship  or  gospel.  The  third  visit  (Acts 
15:  1-35)  had  such  bearings,  and  is  therefore  mentioned.  Titus 
was  among  the  "certain  other"  mentioned  at  Acts  15:2. 
Titus  was  a  Gentile  convert,  and  Paul  evidently  took  him  with 
him  that  he  might  use  him  to  test  the  question  as  to  whether 
circumcision  was  required  of  such  converts.  If  Paul  wrote 
from  Corinth,  Titus  was  then  with  him,  a  living  witness  of 
Paul's  success  in  this  test  case.  At  this  council  which  Paul 
and  Barnabas  attended,  a  decree  confirming  the  liberty  of  the 
Gentiles  was  issued.  Some  question  has  arisen  as  to  why  Paul 
did  not  cite  the  decree  to  prove  the  correctness  of  his  position 
on  the  question  of  circumcision.  Paley  gives  an  elaborate 
number  of  reasons  fv)r  liis    not    doing  so,  none  of  which  are 


PAUL'S   GOSPEL   APPRO VED  257 

wholly  satisfactory,  but  the  real  reason  is  very  obvious.     Paul 
could  prove  his  apostleship  easier  than  he  could  the  decree, 
and  the  decree  would  settle  only  one  or  two  questions,  while 
the  establishment  of  his  apostleship  would  enable  him  to  settle 
every  question.     Moreover,  the  Galatians  had  no  doubt  seen 
the  decree  and  had  it  explained  away — Acts  i6:  4-6.]     2  And 
I   went  up  by  revelation :  and  I  laid  before  thern  the 
gospel  which  I  preach  among  the   Gentiles   but  pri- 
vately before  them  who  were  of  repute,  lest  by  any 
means  I  should  be  running,  or  had  run,  in  vain.     [Paul 
went  up  to  Jerusalem  because  he  was  outwardly  appointed  to 
do  so  by  the  church  at  Antioch  (Acts   15:  2),  and   inwardly 
prompted  to  do  so   by   the   Lord.     This  revelation  may  have 
come  to  Paul  through  some  prophet  (Acts  13:  i,  2),  but  it  was 
more  likely  by  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  (Acts  10:  17-19; 
11:  12;   16:  6,  7),  but  the  important  point  to  note  is,  that  as  his 
gospel  came  from  God,    so  also  its  sanctioning  was  brought 
about    by   God.     Paul    wisely    consulted    with  the    apostolic 
leaders  (Acts  15:4)  before  entering  the  council,  lest,  through 
some    misunderstanding,    he    might    encounter     their    opposi- 
tion,   and    so    have    his    work    destroyed,   for    he    recognized 
that  if  his  labors  were  discountenanced  at  the  fountain-head, 
all  that  he  had  done  would  be  in  vain.     According  to  his  char- 
acteristic use  of  metaphors,  he  describes  his  labors  under  the 
figure  of  the  Grecian  race.]     3  But   not  even   Titus  who 
w^as  with  me,  being  a  Greek,  w^as  compelled  to  be  cir- 
cumcised: 4  and  that  because  of  the  false  brethren 
privily  brought   in,  who   came    in   privily  to   spy  out 
our  liberty  which  we  have  in  Christ  Jesus,  that  they 
might  bring  us   into   bondage :   5  to  whom   we   gave 
place  in  the  vv^ay  of  subjection,  no,  not  for  an  hour ; 
that  the  truth  of  the  gospel  might  continue  with  you. 
[But  the  sequel  showed  that  I  did  not  run  in  vain,  for  my  voice 
and  my  authority  were  recognized  in  that  council  in  the  matter 
of  Titus  ;   and  though  certain  Jews,  who  were  members  of  the 
church  and  yet  not  Christians  at  all,  but  had  entered  the  church 
to  further  Jewish  interests,  and  who  were  even  then  present  in 


258  EPISTLE    TO    THE   GALA  I  lANS 

the  council  as  spies  of  the  Jews  to  spy  out  our  liberty  which  we 
have  in  Christ,  that  they  might  bring  the  church  of  Christ  back 
into  the  bondage  of  the  law — though  these  I  say  were  present, 
demanding  the  circumcision  of  Titus,  I  did  not  yield  to  them 
at  all,  but  saved  the  liberty  of  Titus,  that  the  true  liberty  of  the 
gospel  might  be  preserved  for  you  Gentiles.  Paul  after  this 
circumcised  Timothy,  who  was  by  birth  entitled  to  circum- 
cision. He  did  this  because  by  so  doing  he  would  give  Timo- 
thy larger  influence  in  preaching  to  the  Jews,  and  because  the 
church  at  Jerusalem,  having,  after  a  full  hearing,  accepted  one 
uncircumcised  Christian,  had  once  for  all  admitted  that  cir- 
cumcision was  not  essential  to  Christianity.  Had  Paul  yielded 
in  the  case  of  Titus,  the  precedent  would  have  established  the 
contrary  rule.]  6  But  from  those  who  were  reputed 
to  be  somewhat  (whatsoever  they  were,  it  maketh  no 
matter  to  me  :  God  accepteth  not  man's  person)— they, 
I  say,  who  were  of  repute  imparted  nothing  to  me 
[Having  exposed  the  Judaists  and  set  forth  his  triumph  over 
them,  and  shown  them  to  be  no-what,  he  now  turns  to  discuss 
those  who  by  reason  of  their  office,  influence,  etc.,  seem  to  be 
somewhat.  Thus,  he  reaches  the  main  question  which  the 
Galatians  were  asking,  viz.:  "  What,  Paul,  was  your  final  at- 
titude toward  the  apostles,  those  great  pillars  of  the  church 
universal?"  He  recognizes  that  in  the  very  putting  of  such  a 
question  they  were,  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  exalting  the 
Jerusalem  apostles  above  their  true  height.  He  was  himself  a 
pillar  of  equal  altitude,  and  no  more  to  be  measured  by  them 
than  they  by  him.  Though,  says  he,  these  men,  buttressed  by 
a  multitude  of  followers  and  by  their  established  official  posi- 
tion, seemed  indeed  to  be  more  important  than  a  lone  stranger 
such  as  I,  yet  God  is  not  deceived  by  such  seeming.  He  knew 
me  to  be  an  apostle  as  well  as  they  ;  and  they  added  no  gospel 
fact  or  doctrine  to  my  store,  nor  did  they  impart  to  me  any  new 
authority,  or  suggest  any  change  in  what  I  preached]:  7  but 
contrariwise,  when  they  saw  that  I  had  been  in- 
trusted with  the  gospel  of  the  uncircumcision,  even 
as  Peter  with  the  gospel  of  the  circumcision  8  (for  he 


PAUL'S   GOSPEL   APPROVED  259 

that  wrought  for  Peter  unto  the  apostleship  of  the  cir- 
cumcision wrought  for  me  also  unto  the  Gentiles);  9 
and  when  they  perceived  the  grace  that  was  given 
unto  me,  James  and  Cephas  and  John,  they  who  were 
reputed  to  be  pillars,  gave  to  me  and  Barnabas  the 
right  hands  of  fellowship,  that  we  should  go  unto  the 
Gentiles,  and  they  unto  the  circumcision ;  10  only  they 
would  that  we  should  remember  the  poor  ;  w^hich  very 
thing  I  was  also  zealous  to  do.  [These  men,  as  I  say, 
in  no  way  reproved  or  corrected  me,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
when  they  saw,  by  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit,  that  I  was  sent 
to  the  Gentiles  as  Peter  was  sent  to  the  Jews  (for  the  Spirit, 
who  gave  Peter  wisdom  and  knowledge  and  power  when  he 
worked  among  the  Jews,  gave  me  these  same  gifts  for  my 
work  among  the  Gentiles),  and  when  they  also  saw  the  manner 
in  which  the  Spirit  had  fitted  me  for  my  work,  they  recognized 
that  God  had  appointed  to  each  of  us  a  separate  sphere  of  oper- 
ations; so  they  agreed,  these  pillars,  that  I  should  preach  to  the 
Gentiles,  and  they  should  preach  to  the  Jews,  and  our  agree- 
ment was  not  a  loose  and  tacit  affair,  but  one  to  which  we 
formally  pledged  ourselves  by  the  giving  of  hands.  The  only 
requirement  they  made  of  me  was  that  I  should  remember  the 
poor  in  Judaea  whenever  persecution,  etc.,  brought  them  into 
distress,  and  this  I  would  have  done  without  their  request. 
James  is  mentioned  before  Peter  because  he  was  elder  at 
Jerusalem,  and  because  he  appears  to  have  acted  as  president 
of  the  council.  (See  Acts  15.)  The  Scripture  knows  nothing 
of  the  supremacy  of  Peter,  as  contended  for  by  the  Roman 
Catholics.  As  to  this  agreement  formed  between  the  apostles, 
we  should  note  that  it  was  not  rigid.  Paul,  in  his  missionary 
journeys,  invariably  preached  first  to  the  Jews,  and  Peter  did 
work  at  Antioch  and  elsewhere  among  the  Gentiles,  and  was, 
according  to  the  appointment  of  Christ,  the  first  to  open  the 
door  of  the  kingdom  for  the  Gentiles  (Matt.  16:  19;  Acts  10; 
15:  7).  Moreover,  we  should  note  that  while  the  greatest 
goodwill  and  cordiality  and  most  perfect  understanding  existed 
between.the  leaders  of  these  two  great  wings  of  the  church,  this 


^60  EPISTLE    TO    THE    GALATIANS 

concord  did  not  extend  to  the  wings  themselves,  for  it  was  a 
part  of  Peter's  grand  division  of  the  church  which  was  causing 
Paul  trouble  in  Galatia.  As  to  collections  for  the  poor,  Paul 
had  taken  one  such  offering  to  Jerusalem  even  before  the 
meeting  of  this  council  (Acts  11:28-30),  and  was  even  now 
taking  another  such  collection  on  a  large  scale  (Rom  15:  26,  27  ; 
Acts  24:  16),  of  which  facts  the  Galatians  were  not  ignorant.] 
11  But  when  Cephas  came  to  Antioch,  I  resisted  him 
to  the  face,  because  he  stood  condemned.  [There  is 
no  means  of  determining  when  this  scene  took  place,  but  it 
was  probably  very  soon  after  the  council  at  Jerusalem.  It 
forms  the  climax  in  Paul's  argument,  showing  that  he  was  not 
only  the  equal  of  Peter,  but,  at  times,  even  his  superior.  It 
upsets  the  Romish  doctrine  of  Peter's  supremacy,  and  also 
shows  that  in  his  conduct  he  was  not  infallible  ;  for  in  this 
instance  he  was  not  so  much  condemned  by  his  fellow-apostle 
as  he  was,  to  use  Paul's  phrase,  self-condemned — his  conduct 
at  one  time  reproving  and  convicting  him  for  his  conduct 
at  another.  Luther  regards  Paul  as  here  drawing  a  contrast 
between  his  own  conduct  in  withstanding  Peter  to  his  face, 
and  these  gospel  perverters  who  were  slandering  him  behind 
his  back.]  12  For  before  that  certain  came  from  James, 
he  ate  with  the  Gentiles  ;  but  when  they  came,  he 
drew  back  and  separated  himself,  fearing  them  that 
were  of  the  circumcision.  [The  Jews  regarded  it  as  un- 
lawful to  have  social  intercourse  with,  or  to  eat  with.  Gentiles; 
but  Peter's  great  vision,  teaching  the  fact  that  God  was  no  re- 
specter of  races  or  persons,  bore  especially  on  the  social  diflfer- 
ence  (Acts  10:  11-16).  Peter,  therefore,  instructed  by  the 
vision,  ate  with  the  Gentiles,  and  defended  his  conduct  in  so 
doing  (Acts  11:  3,4,  12).  He  therefore  knew  perfectly  what 
was  right  and  lawful  in  the  matter,  but,  fearing  those  who 
came  from  James,  he  played  the  coward,  being,  as  Alford  says, 
"ever  the  first  to  recognize,  and  the  first  to  draw  back  from 
great  truths."  Peter,  therefore,  to  avoid  the  censure  of  these 
Jerusalem  critics,  began  to  withdraw  from  the  Gentiles,  and 
finally   to   separate    himself    altogether.     Such   a   withdrawal 


PAUL'S   GOSPEL   APPROVED  261 

would  mean  that  Peter  could  not  take  the  communion  with  the 
Gentiles.  The  "certain"  is  contemptuous,  and  corresponds  to 
the  "some"  of  i:  7.  It  is  not  likely  that  James  gave  these  men 
any  authority  for  what  they  did.  See  his  words  at  Acts  15:  19, 
and  those  of  the  decree,  Acts  15:  24.  But  James  stood  in  high 
favor  with  the  Jewish  party,  and  hence,  in  his  absence,  would 
readily  be  quoted  as  sanctioning  the  teachings  of  that  party.] 
13  And  the  rest  of  the  Jews  dissembled  likewise  with 
him ;  insomuch  that  even  Barnabas  was  carried 
away  w^ith  their  dissimulation.  [These  Jews  from 
Jerusalem  appear  to  have  swept  in  like  an  invading  army,  and 
were  joined  by  Peter,  and  then  by  the  rest  of  the  Jewish 
Christians  in  Antioch,  and  lastly  by  even  Barnabas,  who  had 
hitherto  been  Paul's  colleague  in  defending  the  gospel  liberties. 
Truly  the  situation  was  critical.  Either  the  surrender  of  the 
Gentiles,  or  a  division  of  the  church,  was  sure  to  follow  if  these 
conditions  continued.  Paul  calls  the  conduct  of  those  men 
**  dissimulation."  They  were  pretending  that  they  believed 
one  principle,  when,  in  reality,  they  believed  the  very  opposite. 
Bishop  Lightfoot  suggests  that  the  action  of  Barnabas  at  this 
time  may  have  paved  the  way  for  the  quarrel  which  soon  after 
separated  him  from  Paul.]  14  But  when  I  saw  that  they 
w^alked  not  uprightly  according  to  the  truth  of  the 
gospel,  I  said  unto  Cephas  before  them  all  [Antioch  was 
the  center  and  citadel  of  Gentile  Christianity  with  all  its  privi- 
leges and  liberties,  and  Antioch  was  being  captured.  It  was 
time  to  act,  and  the  whole  fate  of  the  church,  humanly  speak- 
ing, rested  on  one  man,  but  that  man  was  equal  to  the 
occasion.  When  leaders  failed  to  walk  according  to  the  truth 
of  the  gospel,  Paul  wa3  always  heard  from.  He  spoke  here, 
and  the  church  was  saved.  The  open  boldness  of  his  unspar- 
ing rebuke,  delivered  before  some  great  congregation,  was 
a  warning  to  these  gospel-perverters  of  what  he  would  do 
should  he  come  to  Galatia.  Doubt  exists  as  to  where  Paul's 
words  to  Peter  end,  but  they  seem  to  embrace  the  entire  chap- 
ter], If  thou,  being  a  Jew,  livest  as  do  the  Gentiles,  and 
not  as  do  the  Jews,  how  compellest  thou  the  Gentiles 

18 


262  EPISTLE    TO    THE    GALATIANS 

to  live  as  do  the  Jews  ?  15  We  being  Jews  by  nature, 
and  not  sinners  of  the  Gentiles,  16  yet  knowing  that 
a  man  is  not  justified  by  the  works  of  the  law  but 
through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  even  w^e  believed  on 
Christ  Jesus,  that  we  might  be  justified  by  faith  in 
Christ,  and  not  by  the  works  of  the  law :  because  by 
the  works  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be  justified.  [If 
thou,  being  a  Jew  to  begin  with,  livest,  as  is  shown  by  your  past 
custom,  like  a  Gentile,  and  not  like  the  Jews,  by  what  right 
do  you  demand,  by  your  changed  custom,  that  the  Gentiles 
should  live  like  Jews?  For  even  you  and  I,  both  being  born 
Jews,  and  both  taking  the  best  view  of  ourselves  possible,  and 
regarding  ourselves  after  the  most  untempered  and  unwar- 
ranted pride  and  prejudice  of  our  race  as  infinitely  superior  to 
the  degraded  heathen  (as  we  were  wont  to  call  them),  both  in 
righteousness  and  acceptability  to  God,  even  we,  I  say,  de- 
spite all  this,  were  forced  to  see  and  acknowledge  that  a  man 
is  not  justified  by  those  works  of  the  law  in  which  we  trusted, 
but  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  so  that  we  believed  on  Christ 
Jesus  that  we  might  obtain  the  justification  that  comes  through 
him,  rather  than  the  vain  and  insufficient  justification  of  the 
law,  for  the  Scripture  itself  (Ps.  143:  2)  says,"  By  the  works 
of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be  justified."]  17  But  if,  while  we 
sought  to  be  justified  in  Christ,  we  ourselves  also 
were  found  sinners,  is  Christ  a  minister  of  sin?  God 
forbid.  [But  if  we  were  forced  by  Christ's  light  to  confess 
that  we  were  sinners  under  the  law,  so  that  we  turned  our 
backs  upon  the  law  as  a  means  of  justification  ;  and  if  we  were 
now  so  disappointed  and  dissatisfied  with  the  justification  which 
we  have  obtained  from  Christ,  that  we  in  turn  abandon  him 
and  seek  to  return  to  the  law,  what  will  be  said  of  Christ? 
Will  not  all  be  compelled  to  say  that,  so  far  as  we  are  con- 
cerned, he  has  proved  himself  not  a  minister  to  our  justification, 
but  rather  a  minister  to  our  sense  of  sin  ?  And  is  he  indeed 
such  a  minister  ?  God  forbid  the  thought!  We  may  regard 
Paul's  reproof  as  closing  here  and  look  upon  the  rest  of  the 
chapter  as  an  elaboration  of  the  thought  addressed  to  the  Gala- 


PA l/L'S   GOSPEL   APPRO  VED  263 

tians.  But  his  address  to  them  begins  properly  at  3:  i,  so  we 
prefer  to  take  it  as  a  continuation  of  the  reproof,  wherein  Paul 
drops  the  plural  for  the  singular  that  he  may  declare  to  Peter 
his  own  intentions  in  the  matter.]  18  For  if  I  build  up 
again  those  things  which  I  destroyed,  I  prove  myself 
a  transgressor.  19  For  I  through  the  law  died  unto 
the  law,  that  I  might  live  unto  God.  20  1  have  been 
crucified  with  Christ ;  and  it  is  no  longer  I  that  live, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  me :  and  that  life  which  I  now  live 
in  the  flesh  I  live  in  faith,  the  faith  which  is  in  the 
Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  up  for 
me.  [If,  as  I  say,  I  follow  your  course,  Peter,  and  abandon 
and  seek  to  destroy  the  law  because  it  does  not  justify  me, 
and,  failing  to  be  justified  anywhere  else,  I  return  to  and  again 
build  up  the  law,  I  prove  myself  to  be  a  hopeless,  unjustified 
sinner.  But  I  am  no  such  self-convicted  transgressor;  for  I, 
following  my  own  course,  was,  by  the  agency  of  the  law  acting 
as  my  schoolmaster  (3:  24),  led  to  die  to  the  law,  thus  utterly 
abandoning  it,  that  I  might  live  unto  God  (Rom.  7:  1-6).  And 
seeking  refuge  from  the  law,  I  have  identified  myself  with 
Christ,  axid  in  him  I  have  died  to  the  law,  for  I  have  been 
crucified  with  Christ;  and  thus  it  is  no  longer  I,  Paul,  the  law- 
condemned  Jew,  that  lives,  but  Christ,  the  righteous,  the  justi- 
fied, liveth  in  me.  And  that  life  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  is 
thus  merged  in  and  identified  with  Christ  by  faith — faith  in  the 
Son  of  God,  who  loved  me  and  gave  himself  up  for  me, 
dying  to  fulfill  the  sentence  of  the  law  in  my  stead.]  21  I  do 
not  make  void  the  grace  of  God :  for  if  righteousness 
is  through  the  law,  then  Christ  died  for  nought.  [I 
do  not,  Peter,  in  following  my  course,  make  void  the  grace  of 
God  which  gave  us  Christ.  But  your  course  does  this  very 
thing,  for  if  a  man  can  be  righteous  and  obtain  justification 
under  the  law,  then  the  death  of  Christ  is  superfluous.  Paul's 
rebuke  to  Peter  is  not  only  a  complete  climactic  justification  of 
his  claims  as  an  apostle,  but  forms  also  a  most  fitting  introduction, 
both  in  matter  and  spirit,  to  his  immediately  following  rebuke 
of  the  Galatians,  who  were,  like  Peter,  returning  to  the  law.] 


264  EPISTLE    TO    THE   GALATIANS 


PART   SECOND. 

BIBLE   TEACHING  AS   TO   FAITH. 

3:  1-4:31. 

I. 

JUSTIFICATION    BY    FAITH    IN    CHRIST    BIBLI- 
CALLY   VINDICATED. 

3:  1-29. 

1  O  foolish  Galatians,  who  did  bewitch  you,  before 
whose  eyes  Jesus  Christ  was  openly  set  forth  cruci- 
fied? [The  Galatians  were  of  well-known  intellectual  capac- 
'ty,  and  their  foolishness  in  not  detecting  the  fallacious  reason- 
ing of  the  Judaizers  was  hard  to  understand.  Their  conduct 
was  so  inexplicable  that  it  seemed  as  if  some  bewitching  fasci- 
nation like  our  modern  animal  magnetism  had  been  made  use 
of,  and  even  this  explanation  was  hardly  sufficient,  for  Christ 
had  been  so  clearly  and  forcibly  preached  unto  them,  that  he 
had  been,  as  it  were,  crucified  in  their  very  presence,  and  be- 
fore their  very  eyes ;  so  that  they  had  only  to  look  to  him  to 
find  an  antidote  to  the  Satanic  poison  which  was  destroying 
them— Num.  21:9.]  2  This  only  would  I  learn  from 
you,  Received  ye  the  Spirit  by  the  works  of  the  law, 
or  by  the  hearing  of  faith  ?  [Rom.  1:5;  16:  26.  I  need 
ask  you  but  one  test  question  to  utterly  condemn  your  conduct. 
I  will  refer  you  to  your  own  experience.  When  I  came  and 
labored  among  you,  God  approved  and  seconded  my  labor  by 
imparting  to  you  the  miraculous  powers  (v.  5  ;  Mark  16:  17 ; 
Heb.  2: 4)  and  spiritual  graces  (v.  14;  4:5,6;  Eph.  1:13) 
of  the  Spirit.  Now,  did  ye  receive  the  Spirit  by  these  works  of 
the  law  which  these  gospel  perverters  would  have  you  perform, 
or  did   ye    receive  him  by  hearing  and   believing  the  gospel 


JUS  TIFICA  TION  D  V  FAITH  265 

which  I  preach  ?  The  Galatians  could  give  but  one  answer  to 
this  question,  and  that  answer  decided  the  point  between  Paul 
and  his  opponents,  and  showed  that  God  was  with  the  apostle, 
and  not  with  his  enemies.]  3  Are  ye  so  foolish  ?  having 
begun  in  the  Spirit,  are  ye  now  perfected  in  the  flesh  ? 
4  Did  ye  suffer  so  many  things  in  vain  ?  If  it  be  in- 
deed vain.  [Paul  here  reproves  them  in  that  they  have  begun 
their  life  in  the  manhood  of  the  Spirit,  with  the  attendant 
spiritual  powers,  liberties  and  graces,  and  were  now  seeking  to 
advance  or  perfect  that  life  by  turning  back  to  the  childhood  of 
the  law  with  its  fleshly  forms,  rites  and  ordinances.  They 
were  advancing  backward  !  (See  4:  1-6.)  He  next  reminds 
them  of  their  sufferings,  which  were  vain,  since  they  might 
have  escaped  them  altogether,  had  they  begun  by  embracing 
Judaism,  for  the  Jews  were  not  being  persecuted,  but  were  the 
very  parties  who  had  stirred  up  the  hostility  of  the  Gentiles 
against  all  Christians.  **  If  it  be  indeed  vain,"  as  translated 
in  the  text,  expresses  a  hope  that  they  may  repent  of  their 
apostasy,  and  so  not  lose  the  reward  of  their  sufferings  (Matt. 
5:11,  12).  But  the  phrase  may  be  rendered '' if  indeed  it  is  only 
in  vain,"  which  expresses  a  desire  that  the  loss  may  be  confined 
to  the  reward  of  their  sufferings,  and  may  not  be  extended  to 
something  further,  as  the  loss  of  their  salvation.  Cook,  Meyer, 
etc.,  prefer  this  latter  meaning,  but,  though  less  commonplace 
and  more  forceful,  it  is  also  more  strained.]  5  He  therefore 
that  supplieth  to  you  the  Spirit,  and  worketh  miracles 
among  you,  doeth  he  it  by  the  works  of  the  law,  or 
by  the  hearing  of  faith  ?  [According  to  the  unvarying  rule 
of  Paul's  writings,  the  pronoun  "he"  in  this  verse  refers  to 
God  rather  than  to  God's  minister,  though  the  latter  reference 
might  make  the  smoother  reading.  The  idea  is  this :  Does 
God,  who  works  miracles  among  you  (or  perhaps  in  you — 2:  8 ; 
Matt.  14:2;  Eph.  2:2;  Phil.  2:13),  do  it  as  a  result  of  your 
obedience  to  the  law,  or  because  you  have  heard  the  gospel 
and  believed  it?  Verily,  by  your  belief;  and  so  jour  case  is 
Hke  Abraham's.]  6  Even  as  Abraham  believed  God, 
and    it    was    reckoned    unto   him   for  righteousness. 


266  EPISTLE    TO    THE   GALATIANS 

[Gen.  15:  6;  Rom.  4:  3,  9,  21,  22.]  7  Know  therefore  that 
they  that  are  of  faith,  the  same  are  sons  of  Abraham. 
[For  by  faith  Abraham  came  into  such  relations  with  God  that  he 
attained  righteousness  and  justification ;  and  I  want  you  to  know 
that  those  who  follow  his  spiritual  example  are  his  real  or  spirit- 
ual children,  to  the  exclusion  even  of  his  fleshly  children,  made 
such  by  birth,  or  adopted,  as  ye  seek  to  be,  by  circumcision. 
8  And  the  scripture,  foreseeing  that  God  -would  jus- 
tify the  Gentiles  by  faith",  preached  the  gospel  before- 
hand unto  Abraham,  saying,  In  thee  shall  all  the 
nations  be  blessed.  [Gen.  12:3.]  9  So  then  they  that 
are  of  faith  are  blessed  w^ith  the  faithful  Abraham. 
[The  word  for  "Gentiles"  and  "nations"  is  the  same;  so 
Paul  says  that  the  Scripture,  foreseeing  that  the  Gentiles  would 
be  justified  by  faith,  just  as  Abraham  was,  foretold  to  him  this 
gospel  of  justification  by  saying,  "  In  thee  shall  all  the  Gentiles 
be  blessed."  That  is,  the  blessing  of  justification  which  is  im- 
parted to  you,  the  father,  shall  attach  to  all  the  spiritual  chil- 
dren which  are  potentially  in  you,  and  are  hereafter  to  be,  as  it 
were,  born  out  of  you ;  even  the  Gentiles.  Those,  therefore, 
that  are  of  faith,  and  not  those  who  are  children  of  Abraham 
after  the  flesh  (for  the  Gentiles  can  never  be  such),  are  blessed 
with  Abraham.]  10  For  as  many  as  are  of  the  works  of 
the  law  are  under  a  curse  :  for  it  is  w^ritten.  Cursed 
is  every  one  who  continueth  not  in  all  things  that  are 
written  in  the  book  of  the  law,  to  do  them.  [Deut.  27: 
26.  But  if  the  Scripture  declares  positively  that  the  blessing 
of  justification  comes  by  faith,  it  likewise  declares  negatively 
that  it  does  not  come  by  the  law,  for  all  failed  to  keep  the  law, 
and  it  says  that  all  who  thus  fail  rest  under  a  curse,  instead  of 
a  blessing.]  11  Now  that  no  man  is  justified  by  the 
law  before  God,  is  evident :  for.  The  righteous  shall 
live  by  faith  [Hab.  2:4;  Rom.  i:  17];  12  and  the  law  is 
not  of  faith  ;  but.  He  that  doeth  them  shall  live  in 
them.  [Lev.  18:  5.  Moreover,  later  prophecy  bears  out  the 
earlier  declaration  made  to  Abraham,  for  it  says  that  the 
righteous  obtain  life,  or  salvation,  by  faith,  and  this  has  no  ref- 


JUSTIFICATION   BY  FAITH  267 

erence  whatever  to  the  law,  for  the  law  is  not  a  system  of  faith, 
but  an  antithetical  system  of  works,  for  the  Scripture  so  defines 
it  by  a  counter  statement  to  the  one  I  have  quoted,  which  says 
that  whoever  keeps  the  precepts  of  the  law  shall  live  by  them. 
Compare  Rom.  ii:  6.]  13  Christ  redeemed  us  from  the 
curse  of  the  law,  having  become  a  curse  for  us ;  for 
it  is  written,  Cursed  is  every  one  that  hangeth  on 
a  tree  :  14  that  upon  the  Gentiles  might  come  the 
blessing  of  Abraham  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  that  w^e  might 
receive  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  through  faith.  [Deut. 
2i:  23.  Compare  Matt.  20:  28  ;  i  Tim.  2:  6;  i  Cor,  5:  20;  7: 
23 ;  Tit.  2:  14,  etc.  That  the  Galatians  may  realize  the  full 
meaning  of  their  foolishness,  Paul  shows  them  that  the  condem- 
nation to  which  they  were  returning,  was  the  very  thing  from 
which  the  death  of  Christ  redeemed  them  ;  for  the  law  brought 
a  curse  upon  men,  but  Jesus  had  delivered  from  the  curse  by 
taking  it  unto  himself,  as  the  Scripture  proves;  for  it  called  all 
cursed  who  were  crucified.  And  Jesus  removed  this  obstruct- 
ing law  and  curse,  that  in  himself  he  might  bring  Abraham's 
blessing  of  justification  upon  the  Gentiles,  that  all  might  re- 
ceive the  fulfillment  of  God's  promise,  that  promise  which 
agreed  to  give  the  Spirit  to  all  who  rendered  the  obedience  of 
faith— Acts  2:  38,  39.]  15  Brethren,  I  speak  after  the  man- 
ner of  men :  Though  it  be  but  a  man's  covenant,  yet 
when  it  hath  been  confirmed,  no  one  maketh  it  void,  or 
addeth  thereto.  16  Now  to  Abraham  were  the  prom- 
ises spoken,  and  to  his  seed.  He  saith  not.  And  to 
seeds,  as  of  many;  but  as  of  one,  And  to  thy  seed, 
which  is  Christ.  [Gen.  13:  15;  17:  8.]  17  Now  this  I 
say:  A  covenant  confirmed  beforehand  by  God,  the 
law,  which  came  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  after, 
doth  not  disannul,  so  as  to  make  the  promise  of  none 
effect.  18  For  if  the  inheritance  is  of  the  law,  it  is  no 
more  of  promise:  but  God  hath  granted  it  to  Abraham 
by  promise.  [Brethren,  I  wish  to  use  an  illustration  taken  from 
our  daily  business  life,  viz.:  that  of  our  usage  concerning  con- 
tracts or  agreements.     Now  if,  when  a  human  contract  has 


268  EPISTLE   TO   THE  GALATIANS 

once  been  confirmed,  it  becomes  so  sacred  that  no  man  will 
presume  to  annul  or  change  it  without  the  consent  of  both  par- 
ties, much  more  is  a  covenant  of  God's  too  sacred  to  be  mod- 
ified or  tampered  with.  But  God  made  such  a  ratified 
or  confirmed  contract  or  covenant  with  Abraham,  for  he 
spoke  promises  to  Abraham,  and  to  his  seed.  Not  in 
fact  meaning  to  Abraham  and  all  his  posterity,  but  to  Abra- 
ham and  his  spiritual  posterity  (for  he  used  a  word  which  may  be 
so  interpreted),  for  he  did  not  use  the  plural  ''seeds,"  but  the 
singular  "seed,"  thereby  referring  especially  to  Christ  as  the 
head  of  the  spiritual  posterity.  Now,  I  say  therefore,  that  this 
covenant,  having  been  confirmed  before  the  law  came,  still 
holds  good,  and  can  not  be  annulled  by  the  coming  of  the  law, 
for  the  law,  as  you  know,  did  not  come  until  four  hundred  and 
thirty  years  after  the  covenant  was  confirmed.  Now,  to  sum 
up  what  I  have  said,  the  promise,  being  given  to  the  seed  of 
Abraham,  becomes  to  them  an  inheritance,  and  inheritances  do 
not  come  from  two  parties,  but  from  one  ;  so,  if  the  inheritance 
had  been  derived  from  the  law,  it  could  not  have  been  derived 
from  the  promise  also;  but  it  was  derived  from  the  promise, 
since  God  thus  gave  it  to  Abraham.  We  lack  space  for  the 
grammatical  and  chronological  difficulties  of  this  passage. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  "  seed,"  being  a  collective  noun,  is  capable  of 
being  applied  to  many ;  but  it  is  also,  as  Paul  says,  capable  of 
being  applied  to  one,  and  none  of  his  auditors  would  object  at 
all  to  his  thus  applying  it  solely  to  Christ.  Again,  if  the  term 
of  four  hundred  and  thirty  years  is  inaccurate,  it  is  the  number 
given  in  the  Septuagint,  which  was  then  universally  used. 
And,  for  argumentative  purposes,  was  sufficiently  correct  as 
a  round  number.]  19  What  then  is  the  law?  It  was 
added  because  of  transgressions,  till  the  seed  should 
come  to  whom  the  promise  hath  been  made  ;  and  it  was 
ordained  through  angels  by  the  hand  of  a  mediator. 
20  Now  a  mediator  is  not  a  mediator  of  one ;  but 
God  is  one.  [This  verse  has  been  interpreted  in  more  than 
three  hundred  different  ways.]  21  Is  the  law  then  against 
the  promises  of  God  ?    God  forbid :  for  if  there  had  been 


JUS  T I  PICA  TION  B  V  FAITH  269 

a  law  given  which  could  make  alive,  verily  righteous- 
ness would  have  been  of  the  law.     22  But  the  scrip- 
ture shut  up  all   things   under  sin,  that  the   promise 
by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  might  be  given  to  them  that 
believe.     [The  apostle  now  undertakes  to  show  the  inferiority 
of  the  law  to  the  gospel.     For  what  purpose  then,  you  ask,  was 
the  law  ?     It  was  added  by  God  for  the  purpose  of   revealing 
and  manifesting  to  man  his  sinfulness,  and  was  to  exist  only 
during  the  interim  between  the  giving  of  the  promise  and  the 
fulfillment  of  the  promise  by  the  coming  of  Christ  (2:  18 ;  Rom. 
5:  13-20;   7:  7).     It   was  not  given  directly  by   divine  lips,  as 
was  the  gospel,  but  through  the  intervention  of  angels  (Deut. 
33:  2 ;   Heb,  2:  2);  and  it  was  not  given  personally,  but  through 
Moses,   a   mediator  (Deut.  5:  5),     Now,  this   mediatorship   of 
Moses  also  argues  the  temporal  nature  of  the  law  ;  for  a  medi- 
ator is  no  part  of  the   personality  of  the  one  whom  he  repre- 
sents: he  is  a  different  personality  ;  but  God  is  one  personality, 
and  can  not,  therefore,  be  properly  represented  by  any  other 
than   himself.     Such    a  mediatorship,  therefore,   must,  in  the 
very  nature  of   the  case,  be    but  temporary.     The  men   who 
represent   God   are   mortal   and   pass  away,    but   God    is   im- 
mutable and  ever-abiding.     His  promises,  therefore,  stand  on  a 
different  plane  from  anything  which  rests  on  human  mediation. 
But  some  one  will  ask,  if  the  law  brings  a  curse,  is  it  not  antag- 
onistic to  the  promises  which  bring  a  blessing  ?     God  forbid 
that  we  should  think  that  the  Almighty  acts  in  so  contrary  a 
manner.     There  are  two  ways  in  which  the  law  might  antag- 
onize   the     gospel.      i.    If    righteousness    could    have    been 
obtained  by  it,  it  might  have  proved  a  rival  way  of  life.     But  it 
is  no  such  rival.     2.  If  it  had  destroyed  life  despite  the  gospel, 
it  would  have  been  contradictory  to  the  gospel.     But  it  merely 
shut  men  up  as  prisoners,  doomed  for  their  sins,  that  justifica- 
tion by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  might  be  given  to  all  them  that 
believe.     Thus,  instead  of  being  antagonistic  to  the  gospel,  the 
law  emphasized  and  revealed  the  blessedness  of  the  gospel.] 
23    But  before  faith  came,  we  w^ere  kept  in  ward 
under  the  law,  shut  up  unto  the  faith  which  should 


270  EPISTLE    TO    THE    GALATIANS 

afterwards  be  revealed.  24  So  that  the  law  is  become 
our  tutor  to  bring  us  unto  Christ,  that  we  might  be  jus- 
tified by  faith.  [In  the  first  of  these  two  verses,  Paul  enlarges 
the  thought  of  verse  22,  fully  describing  those  subjects  of  the 
law  as  prisoners  incarcerated  in  a  fortress,  and  awaiting  the 
coming  of  a  deliverer.  The  next  image  is  distinct  from  that  of 
a  fortress,  yet  very  similar  to  it;  for  the  pedagogue  or  tutor  was 
usually  a  slave,  whose  duty  it  was  to  take  charge  of  a  boy  from 
his  childhood  to  his  majority,  shield  him  from  physical  and 
moral  evil,  accompany  him  in  all  his  amusement,  and,  as  it 
were,  keep  him  as  a  prisoner  at  large,  lest  he  should  in  any 
way  injure  himself.  Now,  the  law  was  such  a  tutor  to  bring 
those  under  his  care  to  a  state  of  development  fit  for  the 
society  and  fellowship  of  Christ,  the  spiritual  father.]  25  But 
now  that  faith  is  come,  w^e  are  no  longer  under  a 
tutor.  26  For  ye  are  all  sons  of  God,  through  faith,  in 
Christ  Jesus.  [Faith,  announcing  justification  from  sin,  is 
like  a  messenger  of  the  father's  announcing  maturity  and  lib- 
erty to  the  son  so  long  under  the  care  of  a  tutor.  From  the 
time  of  this  announcement  the  son  ceases  to  be  a  minor,  shut 
off  from  the  father,  and  becomes  the  companion  of  the  father. 
Paul  plainly  declares  the  literal  meaning  of  his  figurative  lan- 
guage in  V.  26.  Fausset  draws  attention  to  the  analogy  be- 
tween the  illustration  here  and  that  formed  by  the  history 
of  Moses  and  Joshua.  Moses,  as  a  representative  of  the  law, 
brought  the  people  to  the  border  of  the  land  of  liberty  ;  but  it 
was  the  privilege  of  Joshua,  as  a  type  of  faith,  to  lead  the  peo- 
ple into  the  full  enjoyment  of  that  liberty.]  27  For  as  many 
of  you  as  were  baptized  into  Christ  did  put  on  Christ. 
28  There  can  be  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  can  be 
neither  bond  nor  free,  there  can  be  no  male  and 
female  ;  for  ye  are  all  one  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  [Hav- 
ing declared  that  faith,  that  is  to  say,  the  gospel,  brings  us  into 
sonship  to  God,  Paul  describes  the  particular  step  by  which  this 
is  accomplished.  That  step  is  baptism,  for  by  baptism  we  be- 
come part  of  the  mystical  body  of  Christ.  We  put  on  the  per- 
sonality of  Christ  in   the  sight  of  God,  and  so  become,  in  an 


JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH  271 

Individual  sense,  sons  of  God,  but  the  individual  sense  is  almost 
wholly  lost  in  the  collective,  so  that  all  those  racial  distinctions 
and  all  the  fictitious  distinctions  of  caste,  and  even  the  distinc- 
tion of  gender,  which  made  a  man  look  upon  a  woman  with 
contempt,  are  lost  sight  of.  Not  only  are  all  men  and  women 
new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus,  so  that  old  things  are  passed 
away,  but  they  are  all  part  of  one  new  organism,  which  in 
glory  and  importance  obscures  all  former  differences.]  29 
And  if  ye  are  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed, 
heirs  according  to  promise.  [The  promise  was  given  to 
Christ,  the  seed  of  Abraham,  and  if  ye  are  Christ's,  then  are  ye 
in  him  heirs  of  that  promise.  Thus  Paul  demonstrates  that  the 
gospel  privileges  are  not  obtained  by  the  law,  but  by  the  gospel 
system  of  justification  through  faith,  which  gospel  system  was 
promised  equally  to  all  nations,  and  may  be  enjoyed  by  them 
all  without  any  racial  or  less  distinctions.] 


II. 

CHILDHOOD     AND    MANHOOD.       SARAH     AND 
HAGAR. 

4:  1-31. 

1  But  I  say  that  so  long  as  the  heir  is  a  child,  he  dif- 
fereth  nothing  from  a  bondservant  though  he  is  lord  of 
all ;  2  but  is  under  guardians  and  stewards  until  the 
day  appointed  of  the  father.  3  So  we  also,  when  we 
were  children,  were  held  in  bondage  under  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  world :  4  but  when  the  fulness  of  the  time 
came,  God  sent  forth  his  Son,  born  of  a  woman,  born  un- 
der the  law,  5  that  he  might  redeem  them  that  were  un- 
der the  law,  that  we  might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons. 
[In  this  paragraph  Paul  resumes  the  metaphor  begun  at  3:  24 ; 
but  from  a  slightly  different  point  of  view.  There,  law,  or  the 
tutor,  was  prominent  ;  here,  the  son,  or  pupil,  is  the  chief 
object  of  consideration.  The  point  now  illustrated  is  the 
reason  why  the  bondage  of  the  law  preceded  the  liberty  of  the 


2/2  EPISTLE    TO    THE    GALATIANS 

gospel.  It  was  for  purposes  of  development,  similar  to  those 
by  which  youth  is  trained  to  manhood.  The  child  in  this 
instance  is  regarded  as  wholly  subject  to  the  terms  of  a  will 
(though  that  of  a  living  father,  as  appears  later).  Though 
the  will  provides  that  the  son  shall  eventually  be  heir  of  all 
things,  yet  for  the  present  he  is  so  hampered,  governed  and 
restricted  by  the  inflexible  terms  of  the  will  that  his  condition 
differs,  so  far  as  comfort  and  freedom  are  concerned,  in  no 
respect  from  that  of  a  bondservant,  or  slave.  His  person  is 
under  the  care  of  guardians,  and  his  estate  is  under  the  direc- 
tion of  stewards,  and  he  can  in  no  way  expect  to  have  his 
affairs  bettered  until  the  time  has  elapsed  which  is  fixed  by 
the  will  as  the  period  of  his  subserviency,  or  minority.  Thus, 
says  the  apostle,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  as  one  common,  con- 
gregate body,  or  heirs  in  God's  sight,  were  held  in  bondage 
either  to  the  law  of  Moses  or  some  other  form  of  law,  which 
laws  are  collectively  described  as  the  rudiments  of  the  world. 
But  when  the  time  arrived  which  was  stipulated  in  the  will  for 
the  termination  of  this  period  of  tutelage,  then  God  took  the 
steps  for  the  liberation  of  the  ward  (which  steps  were  also  out- 
lined beforehand  in  the  promise  to  Abraham,  and  referred  to 
in  the  types  of  the  will  as  recorded  by  Moses),  and  sent  forth 
his  Son  to  effect  the  liberation  of  the  ward.  At  3:  13  the  apos- 
tle has  already  suggested  that  this  liberation  was  to  be  effected 
by  the  son  taking  the  place  of  the  ward,  etc.  He  shows,  there- 
fore, the  steps  by  which  the  Son  took  upon  him  this  wardship. 
He  took  upon  him  the  nature  of  the  ward  by  becoming  flesh, 
being  born  of  a  woman  (John  i:  14),  and  he  assumed  the  state 
of  the  ward,  for  he  was  born  under  the  law  and  thus  came 
under  the  wardship.  And  his  gracious  purpose  in  all  this  was 
to  redeem  all  those  under  ward  and  bring  them  to  the  estate  of 
sons  (2  Cor.  8:  9) — adopted  sons.]  6  And  because  ye  are 
sons,  God  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  our 
hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father.  7  So  that  thou  art  no 
longer  a  bondservant,  but  a  son ;  and  if  a  son,  then 
an  heir  through  God.  [And  being  made  sons  by  the  Son 
through  the  operation  of  faith  (John  i:  12),  the  Spirit  of  Christ 


CHILDHOOD  AND  MANHOOD  273 

is  bestowed  upon  us  to  bring  us  to  blissful  realization  of  our  son- 
ship,  so  that  we  may  speak  to  God,  calling  him  Abba,  Father. 
Abba  is  the  Syriac  for  father.  The  Syriac  and  Greek  names 
are  both  used  by  Paul,  probably  that  all  the  tender  associations 
which,  to  either  Jews  or  Greeks,  clustered  around  the  paternal 
name,  might  be,  at  the  sound  of  the  sacred  word,  transferred 
to  God.  Thus,  by  the  blessed  ministration  of  Christ,  all  who 
believed  on  him  in  Galatia  passed  from  servitude  and  wardship 
to  the  estate  of  sons  and  heirs — Rom.  8:  17.]  8  Howbeit  at 
that  time,  not  knowing  God,  ye  were  in  bondage  to 
them  that  by  nature  are  no  gods  :  9  but  now  that  ye  have 
come  to  know  God,  or  rather  to  be  known  by  God,  how 
turn  ye  back  again  to  the  w^eak  and  beggarly  rudi- 
ments, whereunto  ye  desire  to  be  in  bondage  over 
again?  10  Ye  observe  days,  and  months,  and  seasons, 
and  years.  Ill  am  afraid  of  you,  lest  by  any  means  I 
have  bestowed  labor  upon  you  in  vain.  [This  para- 
graph is  addressed  especially  to  the  Gentile  Christians.  He 
reminds  them  that  at  the  time  of  their  wardship  their  condition 
differed  from  that  of  the  Jews  ;  for,  having  no  true  copy  of  the 
will  or  law,  they  were  in  the  more  severe  bondage  of  idolatry. 
Having  come  from  this  low,  degraded,  poverty-stricken  bond- 
age into  the  joyous  estate  of  sonship,  where  they  knew  and 
were  known  of  God  the  Father,  they  should  have  been  more 
impressed  by  the  contrast  even  than  were  the  Jews,  and  so 
should  have  been  more  reluctant  to  return  to  bondage  again. 
They,  therefore,  had  less  excuse  than  the  Jews,  who  had  not 
been  so  far  removed  from  God.  The  bondage  is  forcefully  de- 
scribed, and  the  points  of  description  are  thus  aptly  defined  by 
Johnson:  "Weak,  because  they  have  no  spiritual  power  to 
strengthen  us  ;  beggarly,  because  they  have  no  rich  promise 
like  the  gospel ;  rudiments,  because  they  belong  to  a  rudimen- 
tary condition,  to  an  undeveloped  state,  to  the  childhood  of  the 
race."  In  proof  of  the  unquestioned  relapse  of  the  Galatians, 
Paul  cites  their  observance  of  days,  etc.,  set  apart  by  the  terms 
of  the  bondage,  or  law.  It  is  not  stated  whether  these  were 
Sabbaths  and  festiv.dsof  Judaism,  or  the  ritual  days  of  paganism, 


274  EPISTLE  TO    THE  GALATIANS 

but  as  they  were  observed  at  the  instance  and  through  the 
urgency  of  the  Judaizers,  there  can  be  httle  doubt  that  they 
were  the  former;  and  the  Jewish  calendar  corresponds  to 
Paul's  list,  for  they  had  Sabbath  days,  and  new  moon  festivals 
each  month,  the  great  feasts  in  their  seasons,  and  Sabbatical 
years.  This  passage,  and  that  in  Colossians  (Col.  2:  16),  if 
taken  together,  show  very  clearly  that  the  Christians  are  not 
required  to  keep  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  and  Paul's  closing  words, 
expressing  fear  as  to  the  results  of  his  labors,  is  a  forcible 
warning,  indicating  that  salvation  itself  may  be  forfeited  by  a 
return  to  legalism.]  12  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  become 
as  I  am,  for  I  also  am  become  as  ye  are.  Ye  did  me  no 
wrong  :  13  but  ye  know  that  because  of  an  infirmity 
of  the  flesh  I  preached  the  gospel  unto  you  the  first 
time:  14  and  that  which  was  a  temptation  to  you 
in  my  flesh  ye  despised  not,  nor  rejected ;  but  ye 
received  me  as  an  angel  of  God,  even  as  Christ  Jesus. 
15  Where  then  is  that  gratulation  of  yourselves?  for  I 
bear  you  witness,  that,  if  possible,  ye  would  have 
plucked  out  your  eyes  and  given  them  to  me.  16  So 
then  am  I  become  your  enemy,  by  telling  you  the 
truth?  [I  beseech  you,  brethren,  become  as  I  am,  and  be 
not  Jews  ;  for  I  forsook  Judaism  and  became  simply  a  Chris- 
tian, which  made  me,  in  the  eyes  of  my  brethren,  a  Gentile 
like  you.  Though  I  have  spoken  severely  to  you,  it  is  for  no 
personal  reasons.  Ye  have  done  me  no  wrong.  On  the  con- 
trary, your  actions  have  been  very  gracious,  for  you  will 
remember  (and  here  the  apostle  refers  to  facts  that  are  nowhere 
recorded,  but  which  we  presume  to  run  thus:)  that  my  journey- 
ing was  providentially  delayed  as  I  was  passing  through  your 
land,  by  my  sickness  ;  and  so  it  came  about  that  I  preached  the 
gospel  unto  you  ;  and  though  my  sickness  was  of  so  revolting  a 
nature  that  ye  might  well  have  yielded  to  the  temptation  to  rid- 
icule or  despise  me,  and  reject  me  because  of  it,  ye  did  not; 
for,  conversely,  ye  received  me  as  if  I  had  been  an  angel  of 
light,  or  the  Lord  himself.  What,  then,  has  become  of  your 
self-gratulation  that  you  felt  at  having  a  real  apostle  among 


CHILDHOOD  AND  MANHOOD  27S 

you  ?  for  I  bear  you  witness  that  you  so  honored  me  that  you 
would   have   plucked  out   your  very  eyes  for  my  sake.     Am 
I  then  showing  myself   to  be  your  enemy   by  telling  you  truly 
how  foolishly  you  are  conducting  yourselves  ?     This  plucking 
out  of  the  eyes  for  another  was  a  proverbial  expression,  indica- 
ting extreme  attachment,  and  we  have  so  rendered  it  in  the 
paraphrase.     Many  take  this  as  an  indication  that   Paul's  thorn 
in  the  flesh  was  ophthalmia;  see  2  Cor.  12:  7  and  note;  and 
this  is  not  improbable,  for,  though  the  expression  is  proverbial, 
Paul  does  not  here   state   it  in  proverbial  form.     The  words 
"given  them  to  me"   suggest  that  he  needed  eyes,  and  these 
words  are  not  essential  to  the  proverb.]     17  They  zealously 
seek  you  in  no  good  way;   nay,  they  desire  to  shut 
you  out,  that  ye  may  seek  them.     18  But  it  is  good 
to  be  zealously  sought  in  a  good  matter  at  all  times, 
and  not  only  when  I  am  present  with  you.     [The  Jews 
showed  great  zeal  in   proselyting  (i:  14;  Matt.  23:  15  ;   Rom. 
2:  10),  and  the  apostle  states  that  in  this  case  their  zeal  exhib- 
ited itself  in  courting  the  Galatians  in  an  unworthy  manner, 
and,    what    was    more    serious,    for    an    unrighteous   purpose. 
They  were  zealous  to  exclude  the  Galatians  from  the  church 
and  kingdom  of  God,  by  showing  them  to  be  not  rightly  con- 
verted ;   that,  feeling  themselves  forlorn  and  lost,  the  Galatians 
might  seek  the  Judaizers  for  counsel  and  advice,  and  might 
thus  come  to  look  upon  them  as  great  shepherds  and  deliverers. 
As  the  apostle  sees  in  imagination  the  Galatians  seeking  earn- 
estly for  the  instruction  of  the   Judaizers,  he   remembers  how 
they  had  once  sought  him,  whom  they  had  now  forsaken,  so  he 
adds :  I  find  no  fault  with  you  for  zealously  courting  them,  but 
with  the  evil  cause  for  which  they  have  you  seek  them ;  for  it 
is  at  all  times  good  to  be  zealously  sought  as  a  teacher  in   a 
good  cause,  and  so,  for  my  cause's  sake,  you  should  thus  seek 
me,  not  only  when  present,  but  when  absent.]     19   My  little 
children   [i  Tim.  i:  18;  2  Tim.  2:  i  ;  i  John  2:  i],  of  whom 
I  am  again  in  travail  until  Christ  be  formed  in  you— 
20  but   I   could  wish   to    be   present   with  you  now, 
and  to  change  my  tone  ;  for  I  am  perplexed  about  you. 


276  EPISTLE    TO    THE    GALATIANS 

[My  little  children,  for  whom  I  endured  spiritual  travail  to  give 
you  birth  at  the  time  of  your  conversion,  and  for  whom  I  a 
second  time  endure  travail,  that  the  Christ  life  may  be  formed 
in  you,  so  that  you  may  live,  and  think,  and  glory  in  nothing 
but  Christ. — Here  the  apostle  breaks  suddenly  off  and  at  once 
explains  why  he  did  so.  If  the  Galatians  had  come  to  look  upon 
him  as  an  enemy,  how  ridiculous  such  affectionate  language 
would  sound  to  them  !  He  did  not,  as  he  viewed  them  at  a  dis- 
tance, and  as  they  were  pictured  to  him  by  report,  feel  free  to  use 
such  tender  speech  ;  but  still,  trusting  that  matters  were  better 
than  reported,  he  wished  that  he  might  be  present,  and,  finding 
them  indeed  loyal,  lay  aside  the  perplexity  which  was  now 
hampering  him,  and  change  his  tone  from  rebuke  and  reserve 
to  the  accents  of  loving  persuasion.  No  language  could  be 
devised  that  would  more  fully  reveal  the  aposde's  heart  in  all 
its  contending  emotions.]  21  Tell  me,  ye  that  desire  to 
be  under  the  law,  do  ye  not  hear  the  law?  22  For 
it  is  written  [Gen.  i6:  15  ;  21:  2],  that  Abraham  had  two 
sons,  one  by  the  handmaid,  and  one  by  the  free 
woman.  23  Howbeit  the  son  by  the  handmaid  is 
born  after  the  flesh  ;  but  the  son  by  the  freewoman 
is  horn  through  promise.  [Gen  18:  10,  14;  21:  i,  2;  Heb. 
11:  I]  ;  Rom.  4:13;  9:7-9.]  24  Which  things  contain 
an  allegory :  for  these  women  are  two  covenants ; 
one  from  mount  Sinai,  bearing  children  unto  bondage, 
which  is  Hagar.  25  Now  this  Hagar  is  mount  Sinai 
in  Arabia  and  answereth  to  the  Jerusalem  that  now  is: 
for  she  is  in  bondage  with  her  children.  26  But  the 
Jerusalem  that  is  above  [Phil.  3:  20;  Heb.  12:  2;  Rev.  3: 
12;  21:2]  is  free,  which  is  our  mother.  27  For  it  is 
written  [Isa.  54:  i;  51:2],  Rejoice,  thou  barren  that 
bearest  not ;  Break  forth  and  cry,  thou  that  travailest 
not:  For  more  are  the  children  of  the  desolate  than 
of  her  that  hath  the  husband.  28  Now  we,  brethren, 
as  Isaac  was,  are  children  of  promise.  29  But  as 
then  he  that  was  born  after  the  flesh  persecuted 
him  that  iva%  born  after  the  Spirit,  so  also  is  it  now^. 


CHILDHOOD  AND  MANHOOD  277 

30  Howbeit  what  saith  the  scripture?  [Gen.  21:10.] 
Cast  out  the  handmaid  and  her  son  :  for  the  son  of 
the  handmaid  shall  not  inherit  with  the  son  of  the 
free  woman.  31  Wherefore,  brethren,  we  are  not  chil- 
dren of  the  handmaid,  but  of  the  free  woman.  [Tell  me, 
ye  who  are  so  eager  to  return  to  the  law,  do  ye  not  note  what  the 
law  itself  says  ?  Of  itself  it  warns  you  not  to  do  this  thing,  in 
that  it  tells  you  the  story  of  Abraham's  two  sons,  one  of  whom, 
Ishmael,  was  the  son  of  the  bondwoman,  Hagar;  and  the 
other  of  whom,  Isaac,  was  the  son  of  the  freewoman,  Sarah. 
These  sons,  it  tells  you,  were  born  differently.  '  Ishmael,  the 
slave-born,  came  into  the  world  according  to  the  usual  course 
of  nature ;  but  Isaac,  the  freeborn,  came  through  the  promise 
of  God,  which  held  good  even  contrary  to  the  laws  of  nature. 
Now,  this  history,  though  literally  true,  is,  nevertheless,  so  de- 
signed as  to  contain  an  allegory  ;  for  these  two  women  repre- 
sent the  two  covenants  which  we  have  been  discussing.  Ha- 
gar represents  the  law,  which  came  from  Mt.  Sinai,  and  which, 
like  Hagar,  bears  slave-born  children.  Hagar,  thet>,  in  earlier 
history,  represents  Mt.  Sinai  in  Arabia  with  its  covenant,  and 
in  later  history  she  stands  for  Jerusalem,  the  successor  to  Mt. 
Sinai,  for  she,  like  Hagar,  is  in  bondage  ;  and  all  her  children 
are,  as  to  sin  and  the  law,  slave-born  (John  8:  32-34).  Leaving 
out  the  preliminary  steps,  Paul  rushes  at  once  to  the  compar- 
ison of  the  two  cities,  for  the  emissaries  of  Jerusalem  were 
constantly  disparaging  him  as  not  the  equal  of  those  who 
were  the  heads  of  the  church  there  (2:  6,  7).  Filling  in  all  the 
steps,  according  to  the  analogy  of  the  apostle's  reasoning,  the 
full  allegory  would  run  thus :  Sarah,  the  freewoman,  repre- 
sents the  gospel  covenant,  which,  like  Sarah,  bears  freeborn 
children  according  to  God's  promise,  and  she  is  now  represented 
by  the  celestial  Jerusalem,  which,  with  her  free  children,  is 
our  mother.  And  the  Scripture  itself  recognizes  the  order 
of  these  two  covenants,  showing  how  the  law  should  be 
populous  for  a  time,  and  then  be  excelled  by  the  fecunditi  of 
the  gospel  covenant,  which  seemed  so  long  barren  ;  for  Isaiah 
foretells  it  in  the  words,  "Rejoice,  etc."  As  for  a  time  Hagar 
19 


278  EPISTLE    TO    THE    GALATIANS 

seemed  to  be  the  real  wife,  and  as  such  to  own  the  husband, 
so  for  centuries  those  of  the  old  covenant  seemed  to  be  the  real 
Bride  and  to  own  the  Lord.  Resuming  the  allegorical  history 
and  directly  identifying  the  Christian  with  Isaac,  Paul  shows 
how  the  history  continued  to  run  parallel,  for,  as  Ishmael  per- 
secuted Isaac,  so  the  progeny  of  the  law  persecuted  the  children 
of  the  gospel.  Then,  prophetically  conscious  of  God's  design  to 
continue  the  parallel  to  the  end,  he  gives  the  final  prophecy  of 
the  rejection  of  God's  once  chosen  people,  and  closes  with  the 
incontrovertible  conclusion  that  the  Galatians  are  not  children 
of  the  bondwoman,  or  law,  but  of  the  freewoman,  or  gospel. 
Thus  Paul,  knowing  the  passion  of  the  Judaizers  for  allegoriz- 
ing, meets  them  with  their  own  weapon,  and  casts  into  this 
appropriate  mold  matter  which  he  presents  argumentatively 
and  logically  at  Rom.  9:  6-9,  and  prophetically  at  Rom.  11:  15. 
The  fact  that  Isaac  and  the  gospel  were  both  matters  of  prom- 
ise, forestalled  the  Judaizers  in  any  attempt  to  adjust  the  alle- 
gory so  as  to  turn  it  against  Paul.  Moreover,  the  Jews  them- 
selves universally  recognized  the  law  as  a  practical  bondage 
(Acts  15:  10  •  Matt.  23:  4),  and  the  complaint  against  Paul  was 
that  he  allowed  too  much  liberty.] 


FREEDOM    WITHOUT  LICENSE  279 


PART  THIRD. 

EXHORTATIONS    TO    STEADFASTNESS    IN 
FREEDOM   AND   TO   FAITHFULNESS. 

5:  1-6:  18. 

I. 

EXHORTATION   TO   MAINTAIN   FREEDOM    WITH- 
OUT  LICENSE,    AND  TO   ABSTAIN   FROM 
LEGALISM. 

5:  1-26. 

1  For  freedom  did  Christ  set  us  free :  stand  fast 
therefore,  and  be  not  entangled  again  in  a  yoke  of 
bondage.  [This  verse  continues  the  thought  of  the  last  chap- 
ter, and  forms  a  connecting  link  between  it  and  this  section. 
It  means  that  Christ  made  us  free,  not  incidentally,  but  witsh 
the  very  design  that  we  should  cherish  and  enjoy  our  freedom, 
and  we  should  therefore  stand  fast  in  it,  and  not  return  to 
bondage.]  2  Behold,  I  Paul  say  unto  you,  that,  if  ye 
receive  circumcision,  Christ  will  profit  you  nothing. 
[By  the  use  of  an  exclamation  followed  by  his  name,  Paul  calls 
attention  to  the  sentence,  or  decree,  which,  as  an  apostle,  he 
pronounces  in  the  case.  Though  circumcision  of  itself  might  be 
nothing  (v.  6;  Acts  16:  3),  yet  if  the  Galatians  looked  to  it,  and 
through  it  to  the  covenant  which  it  represented,  for  justifica- 
tion, or  even  their  perfection  in  Christian  grace,  they  forfeited 
all  their  rights  in  Christ.  Though  both  covenants  were  of  God, 
they  could  not  be  confused  without  disastrous  results.  Though 
a  man's  mortal  and  spiritual  bodies  may  both  be  from  God,  the 
soul  which  has  advanced  to  the  spiritual  body  would  forfeit  its 
salvation  by  returning  to  the  corrupt  mortal  body.]  3  Yea,  I 
testify  again  to  every  man  that  receiveth  of  circum- 


EPISTLE    TO   THE  GALATIANS 

cision,  that  he  is  a  debtor  to  do  the  whole  law.  [The 
apostle  here  gives  the  reason  for  what  he  has  said  in  the  previ- 
ous verse.  Circumcision  was,  in  its  symboHc  significance,  an 
entrance  into  covenant  relations  with  God  under  the  terms  of 
the  old  covenant,  and  as  that  covenant  embraced  not  a  part,  but 
the  whole  law,  the  covenantee,  or  circumcised  person,  was 
obliged  to  observe  the  whole  law,  or  forfeit  his  claims  to  life. 
Paul  had  probably  fully  explained  this  fact  on  one  of  his 
previous  visits,  and  so  he  now  reiterates  it.]  4  Ye  are  sev- 
ered from  Christ,  ye  who  would  be  justified  by  the 
law;  ye  are  fallen  away  from  grace.  [Therefore,  in 
being  circumcised  for  the  purpose  of  being  justified  by  the  law 
ye  have  been  guilty  of  a  complete  apostasy ;  there  is  no  longer 
any  justification  for  you,  for  you  are  not  under  the  grace  of 
Christ,  but  rest  under  the  condemnation  of  the  law.]  5  For 
we  through  the  Spirit  by  faith  wait  for  the  hope  of 
righteousness.  [That  ye  have  fallen  from  grace  is  apparent 
by  your  contrast  with  us ;  for  we  true  Christians,  not  trusting 
in  carnal  ordinances,  but  strengthened  by  the  Spirit,  wait  for 
the  fulfillment  of  the  hope  which  righteousness  by  faith, 
instead  of  by  law,  insures  to  us.]  6  For  in  Christ  Jesus 
neither  circumcision  availeth  anything,  nor  uncircum- 
cision  ;  but  faith  working  through  love.  [It  makes  no 
difference  in  God's  sight  what  a  man  has  been,  whether  a  cir- 
cumcised Jew,  or  an  uncircumcised  Gentile.  There  is,  in  his 
sight,  no  merit  in  either  condition.  That  which  he  values  is  a 
faith  in  his  Son,  Christ  Jesus,  which  manifests  itself  in  loving 
service  to  him.]  7  Ye  were  running  well;  who  hindered 
you  that  ye  should  not  obey  the  truth  ?  8  This  per- 
suasion came  not  of  him  that  calleth  you.  [The  apos- 
tle again  borrows  a  metaphor  from  the  foot-race  of  the  Grecian 
game.  In  their  faith  and  love  and  works  the  Christians  were 
running  in  a  course  obedient  to  the  truth,  but  some  one  had 
broken  up  the  race-course,  and  had  persuaded  them  to  desist 
from  running.  Who  had  done  this  ?  Paul  does  not  answer, 
but  states  the  important  fact  in  the  matter  that  whoever  these 
persuaders  were  they  were  not  the  agents  of  the  God  who  had 


FREEDOM    WITHOUT  LICENSE  281 

called  them  to  enter  the  race.  The  term  "  hindered  "  is  mili- 
tary and  indicates  the  embarrassment  of  an  army's  progress  by 
tearing  down  bridges,  etc.]  9  A  little  leaven  leaveneth 
the  whole  lump.  [Paul  felt  that  by  this  time  those  who 
read  his  letter  would  be  saying  that  he  was  censuring  the  whole 
church  for  a  course  of  conduct  pursued  only  by  a  small  minor- 
ity, but  he  quotes  one  of  the  proverbs  of  the  New  Testament 
(i  Cor.  5:  6)  to  show  that  the  effect  of  minorities,  if  tolerated, 
becomes  a  menace  to  majorities.]  10  I  have  confidence 
to  you-ward  in  the  Lord,  that  ye  will  be  none 
otherwise  minded  :  but  he  that  troubleth  you  shall 
bear  his  judgment,  whosoever  he  be.  [The  apostle 
here  expresses  his  confidence  that  they  will  take  the  same 
view  of  the  situation  that  he  does,  and  avoid  the  contami- 
nating influence  of  the  minority  by  disciplining  it  or  its  ring- 
leader, no  matter  who  he  may  be.]  11  But  I,  brethren,  if  I 
still  preach  circumcision,  why  am  I  still  persecuted? 
then  hath  the  stumbling-block  of  the  cross  been 
done  away.  [It  is  evident  that  in  this  verse  Paul  defends 
himself  against  the  charge  of  having  taught  the  necessity  of  cir- 
cumcision by  having  circumcised  Timothy.  His  answer  is  that 
false  brethren  might  misconstrue  his  act  for  the  purpose  of 
founding  false  teaching  upon  it,  but  that  the  Jews,  the  real 
parties  in  interest,  placed  a  truer  construction  upon  the  act,  for 
they  still  continued  to  persecute  him  as  an  enemy  to  circum- 
cision. If  Paul  had  preached  circumcision,  the  stumbling- 
block  of  the  cross  would  have  been  done  away.  Paul  taught 
that  the  whole  Jewish  system  of  ordinances  perished  at  the 
cross,  and  that  on  the  cross  Jesus  made  the  one  and  only  atone- 
ment for  sin.  Such  teaching  was  a  stumbling-block  to  the 
Jews.  Had  Paul  rejected  the  doctrine  of  the  cross  and 
preached  circumcision,  as  these  Judaizers  contended  that  he 
did  when  they  wished  to  countenance  their  errors  with  his 
authority,  he  would  have  been  a  hero  among  the  Jews.]  12  I 
w^ould  that  they  that  unsettle  you  w^ould  even  go 
beyond  circumcision.  [If  those  who  trouble  you  insist  on 
mutilating  themselves,  I  wish  they  would  go  further  and  cut 


282  EPISTLE    TO    THE    GALATIANS 

themselves  entirely  off  from  the  church.  Having  fully  estab- 
lished the  liberty  of  the  gospel,  the  apostle  now  turns  to 
correct  any  false  antinomian  theories  which  might  have  arisen 
out  of  a  misconception  of  his  words.  Liberty  is  permissible, 
but  not  license.  The  liberty  of  a  son  is  infinitely  larger  than 
that  of  a  ward,  and  yet  the  son  is  not  wholly  without  restraint.] 
13  For  ye,  brethren,  were  called  for  freedom;  only 
use  not  your  freedom  for  an  occasion  to  the  flesh, 
but  through  love  be  servants  one  to  another.  14  For 
the  whole  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  even  in  this  : 
Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  15  But  if 
ye  bite  and  devour  one  another,  take  heed  that  ye 
be  not  consumed  one  of  another.  [Do  not  think  because 
you  are  free  that  you  are  therefore  free  to  do  evil.  As  a  con- 
trast to  the  spirit  of  liberty  which  is  indeed  yours,  I  counsel 
you  to  become  servants  one  to  another,  not  because  the  law 
commands  you,  but  because  love  constrains  you.  For  ye  are 
indeed  under  the  law  of  love,  and  that  whole  law  is  summed 
up  in  one  sentence,  which  is  this:  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thyself."  But  if,  instead  of  having  the  spirit  of  love, 
which  becomes  men,  ye  be  animated  with  the  spirit  of  wild 
beasts,  which,  in  their  hasty  rancor,  bite  each  other,  and,  in 
their  settled,  inveterate  malice,  gnaw  at  and  devour  each 
other,  take  heed  that  your  conduct  does  not  result  in  your 
being  consumed  one  of  another.]  16  But  I  say.  Walk  by 
the  Spirit,  and  ye  shall  not  fulfil  the  lust  of  the 
flesh.  17  For  the  flesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit, 
and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh  ;  for  these  are  contrary 
the  one  to  the  other ;  that  ye  may  not  do  the  things 
that  ye  w^ould.  [The  Christian  is  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  continually  prompts  him  to  imitate  the 
Father  who  has  adopted  him,  and  the  Christ  who  has  died  for 
him.  Now,  any  one  who  submits  himself  to  the  guidance  of  the 
Spirit,  will  not  yield  to  those  lusts  of  the  flesh  which  he  knows 
are  displeasing  to  God.  But  he  will  be  tempted  to  yield  to 
those  lusts,  for  there  is  an  inner  conflict  forever  waged  within 
him  in  which  the  flesh  contends  with  the  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit 


FREEDOM   WITHOUT  LICENSE  283 

with  the  flesh,  each  desiring  to  constrain  the  man  to  fulfill  its 
will.  And  thus  it  comes  about  that  ye  may  not  do  things  that 
ye  would,  for  there  are  two  wills  within  you,  and  one  or  other 
of  them  must  be  subdued  and  disappointed.]  18  But  if  ye 
are  led  by  the  Spirit,  ye  are  not  under  the  law.  [By 
as  much  as  the  Spirit  triumphs  within  us,  by  that  much  are 
we  freed  from  feeling  the  presence  of  the  law.  So  long  as  we 
have  two  wills  we  are  sensible  of  conflict,  and  so  of  the  restraint 
of  law,  but  when  our  nature  is  merged  in  the  will  of  the  Spirit, 
so  that  there  is  but  one  will  within  us,  then  we  lose  all  con- 
sciousness of  restraint.  We  attain  to  that  true  rule  of  liberty 
which  Augustine  condenses  in  the  saying:  "  Love  God,  and  do 
what  you  please."  God  himself  leads  the  life  of  perfect  right- 
eousness, yet  God  can  never  be  said  to  be  under  law.  He 
knows  no  law  but  his  own  choice,  but  his  choice  is  ever  right- 
eousness because  of  the  perfect  holiness  of  his  character.  So 
the  Christian  should  strive  to  bring  his  own  will  into  such  per- 
fect accord  with  the  will  of  the  Spirit  that  he  does  not  feel  the 
constraint  of  law  resting  upon  him.]  19  Now  the  works 
of  the  flesh  are  manifest,  which  are  these:  forni- 
cation, uncleanness,  lasciviousness,  20  idolatry,  sor- 
cery, enmities,  strife,  jealousies,  wraths,  factions, 
divisions,  parties,  21  envyings,  drunkenness,  revel- 
lings,  and  such  like;  of  which  I  forew^arn  you,  even 
as  I  did  forewarn  you,  that  they  w^ho  practice  such 
things  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.  [These 
sins  are  too  well  known  to  need  analysis  or  comment.  It 
is  startling  to  find  "factions,  divisions,  parties,'*  in  so  black  a 
list,  and  coupled  with  so  clear  a  declaration  that  these  sins  ex- 
clude the  perpetrator  of  them  from  the  kingdom  of  God.  Ver- 
ily all  professing  Christians  would  do  well  to  take  heed  to  what 
the  Bible  designates  as  sins,  and  not  trust  too  much  to  their 
own  falHble  sentiment  and  judgment  in  such  matters.]  22  But 
the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  longsuffering, 
kindness,  goodness,  faithfulness,  23  meekness,  self- 
control  ;  against  such  there  is  no  law.  [Contrast  between 
light  and  darkness  is  no  more  definite  and  distinct  than  that  be- 


284         EPISTLE    TO    THE   GALATIANS 

tween  these  two  catalogues  which  represent  carnal  and  spirit- 
ual desires.  All  those  who  do  these  works  of  God,  find  no  law 
of  God  interfering  with  them  in  the  exercise  of  their  labors.] 
24  And  they  that  are  of  Christ  Jesus  have  crucified 
the  flesh  with  the  passions  and  the  lusts  thereof. 
[All  those  who  have  been  baptized  with  Christ  have  been  sym- 
bolically united  with  him  in  his  crucifixion  and  death  (Rom.  6: 
2-6).  In  Christ,  therefore,  they  have  crucified  the  flesh  with 
its  passions,  and  so  have  consented  to  cut  themselves  off  from 
the  indulgence  of  the  same.]  25  If  we  live  by  the  Spirit, 
by  the  Spirit  let  us  also  walk.  26  Let  us  not  be- 
come vainglorious,  provoking  one  another,  envying 
one  another.  [If  we  have  been  born  and  live  in  the  Spirit, 
let  us  manifest  that  fact  by  our  daily  life,  abstaining  from  evil. 
The  especial  evils  mentioned  in  the  last  verse  were  probably 
very  common  among  the  Galatians.] 

II. 

EXHORTATIONS   TO  MUTUAL   HELPFULNESS. 
RIGHT   AND   WRONG    GLORYING. 

6:  i-i8. 

1  Brethren,  even  if  a  man  be  overtaken  [literally, 
caught]  in  any  trespass,  ye  who  are  spiritual,  restore 
[a  surgical  term]  such  a  one  in  a  spirit  of  gentleness  ; 
looking  to  thyself,  lest  thou  also  be  tempted.  [Brethren, 
if  a  man  be  surprised,  or  caught  unaware  by  temptation,  and  so 
fall  into  sin,  ye  who  have  not  so  done,  but  have  walked  accord- 
ing to  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit,  deal  gently  with  such  a  sinner. 
Do  not  amputate  him,  as  a  piece  of  gangrene  flesh,  from  the, 
church  body,  but  so  handle  him  as  to  restore  him.  Also  do  not 
do  this  in  a  proud,  Pharisaical  spirit,  but  in  the  spirit  of  gentle- 
ness, bearing  in  mind  that  thou  thyself  art  not  beyond  the 
reach  of  temptation.]  2  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens 
[Greek,  bata,  burden,  or  distresses],  and  so  fulfil  the  law 
of  Christ.     3  For   if    a  man    thinketh    himself  to  be 


RIGHT  AND    WRONG    GLORYING  285 

something  when  he  is  nothing,  he  deceiveth  himself. 
4  But  let  each  man  prove  his  own  work,  and  then 
shall  he  have  his  glorying  in  regard  of  himself  alone, 
and  not  of  his  neighbor.  5  For  each  man  shall  bear 
his  own  burden.  [Greek,  phortion,  burden  or  responsibility. 
Bear  one  another's  burden  of  trial  and  suffering,  those  burdens 
which  come  by  reason  of  infirmity  of  the  flesh,  and  so  fulfill  the 
law  of  Christ,  which  bids  us  love  one  another  (John  13:  34; 
15:  12;  I  John  3:  23).  For  if  a  man  think  himself  to  be  some- 
thing, etc.,  i.  e.,  so  good  that  he  can  not  be  tempted,  or  so 
strong  that  he  can  not  fall,  or  so  perfect  that  he  will  never  need 
the  patience  and  sympathy  of  his  brethren,  when  in  reality  he 
is  nothing,  i.  e.,  no  better  than  other  men,  he  deceives  himself. 
But  let  each  man  prove  his  own  work  instead  of  criticizing  and 
judging  the  work  of  others,  and  then  shall  he  have  glory  in 
himself  alone,  and  not  because  he  seems  superior  to  his  neigh- 
bor by  comparison  of  his  work  with  that  of  his  neighbor.  And 
it  behooves  us  to  be  concerned  about  our  own  work,  and  to 
thus  test  it,  for  each  one  of  us  shall  bear  his  own  load  of  duty  and 
accountability,  for  which  alone  he  shall  be  called  to  answer  in 
the  judgment.]  6  But  let  him  that  is  taught  in  the  word 
communicate  unto  him  that  teacheth  in  all  good  things. 
[Let  the  one  taught  remunerate  his  teacher,  bringing  him  pe- 
cuniary aid,  honor,  reverence  and  all  other  good  things.  The 
financial  support  of  teachers  is  elsewhere  referred  to  (i  Tim. 
5:  17).  Failure  to  contribute  funds  to  this  good  end,  no  doubt, 
suggested  what  follows  (compare  2  Cor,  9:  7,  8);  but  the  para- 
graph is  by  no  means  to  be  confined  to  such  failure,  for  the 
language  is  too  general.]  7  Be  not  deceived;  God  is  not 
mocked:  for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he 
also  reap.  8  For  he  that  soweth  unto  his  own  flesh 
shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption  ;  but  he  that  soweth 
unto  the  Spirit  shall  of  the  Spirit  reap  eternal  life. 
[God  is  not  to  be  deceived  by  false  appearances,  and  whoever 
hopes  to  overreach  him  only  deceives  himself  (2  Kings  5:  15- 
27;  Acts  5:  4,  5,  9).  It  is  a  broad  law  of  God's  (and  he  can 
not  be  deceived  about  it)  that  whatever  a  rran  sows  he  shall 


286  EPISTLE    TO    THE   GALATIANS 

reap.  As  in  the  natural  world  he  reaps  grain  for  grain,  so  in 
the  moral  world,  if  he  sows  fleshly  indulgence,  he  shall  reap 
corruption,  and  so  in  the  spiritual  world,  if  he  sows  to  the  Spirit 
of  God,  he  shall  of  the  Spirit  reap  life  everlasting.]  9  And 
let  us  not  be  weary  in  well-doing :  for  in  due  season 
we  shall  reap,  if  we  faint  not.  10  So  then,  as  we  have 
opportunity,  let  us  work  that  which  is  good  toward  all 
men,  and  especially  toward  them  that  are  of  the  house- 
hold of  the  faith.  [And  let  us  who  are  sowing  in  this  latter 
manner  not  grow  weary  in  the  good  work,  for  in  due  season 
we  shall  reap  (Jas.  5:  7,  8)  if  we  do  not  grow  disheartened  and 
quit.  And  because  we  are  then  sure  to  reap,  let  us  sow  our 
harvest  of  good  deeds  as  often  as  we  have  opportunity  to  sow, 
and  let  us  do  good  toward  all  men,  especially  toward  all  our 
brethren  in  God's  household  of  believers.]  11  See  with  how 
large  letters  I  w^rite  unto  you  w^ith  mine  own  hand. 
[There  is  no  indication  that  Paul  had  ever  before  written  to  the 
Galatians,  and  they  were  probably  not  familiar  with  his  hand- 
writing. To  call  attention,  therefore,  to  the  fact  that  the 
amanuensis  has  now  turned  over  the  stylus,  or  pen,  to  him,  and 
that  he  is  putting  his  own  closing  lines  as  an  autograph  to  the 
Epistle,  he  bids  them  note  the  difference  in  the  letters.  They 
were  much  larger  than  those  of  the  amanuensis.  This  large 
lettering  is  taken  by  some  as  an  additional  evidence  that  Paul's 
thorn  in  the  flesh  was  defective  eyesight.]  12  As  many  as 
desire  to  make  a  fair  show  in  the  flesh,  they  compel 
you  to  be  circumcised  ;  only  that  they  may  not  be  per- 
secuted for  the  cross  of  Christ.  13  For  not  even  they 
who  receive  circumcision  do  themselves  keep  the  law  ; 
but  they  desire  to  have  you  circumcised,  that  they  may 
glory  in  your  flesh.  [In  taking  the  pen  in  his  own  hand  it 
was  natural  that  he  should  show  his  earnestness  in  what  he  had 
dictated  about  circumcision  and  the  Judaizers,  tracing  with  his 
own  fingers  a  line  or  two  more  on  that  subject.  This,  therefore, 
he  does,  telling  them  that  all  those  who  desire  to  make  a  fair 
show  in  the  flesh,  i.  e.,  to  please  men  by  complying  with  worldly 
demand,  seek  to  compel  them  (the  Galatians)  to  be  circum- 


RIGHT  AND    WRONG    GLORYING  287 

cised.  They  did  this  for  no  zeal  for  circumcision,  but  in  order 
to  escape  the  persecution  of  their  Jewish  brethren  for  adherence 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  cross.  Moreover,  these  Judaizers  who 
were  thus  urging  circumcision  did  not  do  so  from  any  zeal  for 
the  law,  for  they  made  no  effort  themselves  to  keep  it,  but  they 
did  it  that  they  might  boast  to  other  strict  and  unconverted 
Jews  how  they  were  making  Jews  out  of  Gentile  Christians. 
Thus  their  motives  were  not  religious  and  holy,  but  base  and 
selfish.]  14  But  far  be  it  from  me  to  glory,  save  in  the 
cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  through  which  the 
world  hath  been  crucified  unto  me,  and  I  unto  the 
world.  [Let  these  glory  if  they  will,  in  their  wicked  activity 
against  the  cross,  but  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory  save  in 
that  very  cross  against  which  they  Hft  their  hands,  the  cross  by 
which  the  world  has  died  to  me,  so  that  it  no  longer  allures  me 
with  its  false  glories,  or  terrifies  me  with  its  frowns  and  threats; 
and  by  which  I,  in  my  turn,  have  died  with  Christ  as  to  the 
world,  so  that  I  no  longer  enjoy  or  take  part  in  its  sinful  lusts, 
and  no  longer  rest  under  its  sentence  of  condemnation.]  15 
For  neither  is  circumcision  anything,  nor  uncircum- 
cision,  but  a  new  creature.  [I  glory  in  this  cross  of  death 
from  which  I  have  been  born  again,  a  new  creature  in  Christ, 
because,  in  this  new  dispensation  of  Christ's,  former  things 
have  lost  their  value.  As  a  Jew  I  once  held  myself  superior  to 
Gentiles,  and  despised  them  ;  and  had  I  been  of  the  Gentiles  I 
would,  no  doubt,  have  looked  at  things  from  their  standpoint, 
and  so  I  should  have  looked  with  contempt  upon  the  Jews;  but 
in  Christ  I  have  died  to  all  this  worldly  pride,  for  in  his  dispen- 
sation there  is  no  advantage  or  profit  in  the  circumcision  which 
makes  a  Jew,  or  the  lack  of  it  which  makes  a  Gentile.  The 
whole  profit  lies  in  being  born  again  from  either  of  these  strtes 
(John  3:  3)  so  as  to  become  a  child  of  grace,  a  recipient  of 
justification,  an  heir  of  God.]  16  And  as  many  as  shall 
walk  by  this  rule,  peace  he  upon  them,  and  mercy,  and 
upon  the  Israel  of  God.  [Upon  all  who  walk  by  the  rule 
which  I  have  just  stated — the  rule  which  rejects  carnal  ordi- 
nances, and  accepts  a  regenerated  hfe — upon  them,  even  upon 


288  EPISTLE    TO    THE   GALATIANS 

the  Israel  of  God,  be  peace  and  mercy.  The  word  translated 
*'  and"  often  means  "  even,"  and  it  has  that  force  here,  for  it 
was  Paul's  constant  contention  that  Christians  were  the  true 
Israel  of  God,  the  bone-fide  sons  of  Abraham.]  17  Hence- 
forth let  no  man  trouble  me  ;  for  I  bear  branded  on  my 
body  the  marks  of  Jesus.  [We  have  here  a  figure  taken 
from  the  life  of  a  slave,  who,  in  that  day,  was  often  branded 
with  his  master's  name,  so  as  to  insure  his  recovery  should  he 
attempt  to  escape.  Now,  Paul  had  been  troubled  by  the  Juda- 
izers,  who  asserted  that  he  was  teaching  their  doctrine,  and 
was  as  they  were  (5:  10,  11).  But  this,  in  Paul's  eyes,  was  an 
assertion  that  he  was  free  from  Christ  (5:  4).  Now,  it  troubled 
him  to  be  thus  accused  of  being  no  longer  the  servant  of  Christ, 
and,  to  silence  such  calumny,  he  appeals  to  the  scars  on  his 
body,  which  showed  that  he  was  indeed  the  branded  servant 
of  Christ,  and  not  a  time-pleasing,  persecution-evading  (v.  12) 
servant  of  the  world.]  18  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  be  with  your  spirit,  brethren.  Amen.  [The  Epistle 
closes  with  a  fraternal  benediction,  but  the  word  of  grace  rests 
on  the  spirit  of  the  Galatians,  and  not  on  their  bodies.  Blessing 
was  to  be  found  in  rectitude  of  spirit,  and  not  in  fleshly  right- 
eousness ceremonially  obtained  through  ordinances.  We  have 
no  word  of  history  which  reveals  to  us  the  immediate  effect  of 
Paul's  Epistle  ;  but  the  fact  that  it  was  preserved  argues  that  it 
was  well  received.  Considering  the  vigor  and  power  of  it,  it 
could  not  have  been  otherwise  than  effective.  We  may  say, 
then,  that  it,  with  2  Corinthians  and  Romans,  were  three 
blows  which  staggered  Judaism,  and  restrained  it,  till  smitten 
by  the  hand  of  God  himself  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  A. 
D.  70,  it  ceased  to  trouble  the  church  till  its  forms  were  again 
revived  in  the  days  of  the  great  apostasy.] 


INTRODUCTION  289 

EPISTLE   TO  THE   ROMANS. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Paul  had  long  wished  to  visit  Rome,  and  to  preach  the  gospel 
at  this  center  and  seat  of  earthly  power  and  government.  He 
wished  to  so  dispose  the  church  at  Rome  towards  himself  and 
his  work  that  he  might  use  it,  in  part  at  least,  as  a  base  for  his 
operations  in  the  regions  of  the  far  West  (chap.  15:  24).  But  he 
had  not  been  able  as  yet  to  visit  Rome  (chap,  i:  10-13);  so, 
during  his  three  months'  stay  in  Corinth  (Acts  20:  3),  when  he 
was  gathering  the  offering  for  Judaea  (chap.  15:  25,  26),  appar- 
ently finding  that  Phoebe,  a  member  of  the  near-by  church  at 
Cenchraea,  the  port  of  Corinth,  was  about  to  depart  for  Rome 
(chap.  16:  1,2),  he  determined  to  improve  the  occasion  by  writ- 
ing this  Epistle,  which  would  accomplish  many  of  the  purposes 
of  a  visit.  The  Epistle  would  forearm  the  disciples  against  the 
slanderous  misrepresentations  of  his  enemies,  and  would  pre- 
pare them  to  be  improved  and  benefited  by  his  visit,  for  he  still 
planned  to  visit  them  after  going  to  Jerusalem  (Acts  i:  21 ;  15; 
23-28).  The  place,  therefore,  from  which  the  Epistle  was 
written,  was  Corinth;  and  the  time,  the  early  spring  of  A.  D. 
58;  for  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  Paul  left  Corinth  early 
enough  to  reach  Jerusalem  by  Pentecost  of  that  year  (Acts  20: 
16).  The  Epistle,  then,  was  written  when  Paul  was  in  the 
prime  and  vigor  of  his  manhood,  and  when  his  activities  in  the 
ministry  were  most  fully  exercised,  and  when  the  new  religion 
of  Christ  was  assuming  its  supremacy  over  all  known  forms  of 
worship.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  Paul  produced  on  this 
occasion  a  letter  which  Coleridge  has  rightly  described  as  "the 
most  profound  work  in  existence."  As  to  the  origin  of  the 
church  to  which  he  wrote,  we  have  no  data.  It  is  evident  from 
Paul's  Epistle  that,  up  to  the  time  of  writing  it,  he  had  never 
visited  Rome,  and  this  accords  with  the  general  trend  of  the 
Book  of  Acts,  and  the  special  statement  of  Acts  23:  11.    Paul's 


290  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

silence  as  to  Peter  argues  very  strongly  that  that  apostle  also 
had  not  yet  been  in  Rome — if  he  was  ever  there.  Indeed,  the 
silence  of  Scripture  as  to  the  origin  of  that  church,  if  rightly 
considered,  forbids  the  assumption  that  any  of  the  apostles  par- 
ticipated in  the  initial  preaching  at  the  great  metropolis.  Pos- 
sibly pilgrims,  converted  at  the  ever  memorable  Pentecost, 
carried  the  gospel  back  with  them,  and  sowed  the  first  seed 
(Acts  2:  10).  Or,  those  scattered  by  the  persecutions  which 
arose  at  the  death  of  Stephen,  and  which  raged  subsequently 
in  Judaea,  may  have  eventually  traveled  as  far  as  Rome,  and 
preached  the  truth  there.  Or,  more  likely  still,  those  who  re- 
sorted to  Rome  in  the  ordinary  way  of  travel  or  business  may 
have  founded  this  church,  for  it  was  afterwards  filled  with  such 
sojourners,  many  of  whom  were  Paul's  friends,  acquaintances 
and  fellow-workers,  as  is  shown  by  his  salutations  in  the  last 
chapter.  But,  however  the  church  had  started,  it  was  now 
strong  and  influential  and  had  a  world-wide  fame  (chap.  1:8). 
It  is  also  apparent  that  while  it  contained,  as  did  all  the  others, 
many  Jews  (chap.  16:7,  11),  the  church  was  largely  Gentile. 
This  is  obvious  from  the  habitual  tone  of  the  Epistle  (chaps,  i, 
5,  6,  13,  14;  11:  13-24;  14:  1-15;  16:3-27;  and  also  from  the 
narrative  at  Acts  28,  especially  verse  28).  Had  the  Roman 
church  been  composed  principally  of  Jews,  the  apostle  to  the 
Gentiles,  while  interested  in  it,  would  not  likely  have  felt  suf- 
ficiently responsible  for  it  to  have  written  to  it  when  most  of  its 
members  were  strangers  to  him.  His  own  words  suggest  so 
much  (chap.  15:  14-16).  Moreover,  the  teaching  of  the  church 
would  have  been  strongly  Judaic  if  the  Jews  had  preponder- 
ated ;  whereas  it  was  unquestionably  pronounced  in  its  Pauline 
purity  of  doctrine  (chap.  16:  17-20).  While,  therefore,  this 
Epistle  discusses  the  same  general  theme  handled  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Galatians,  it  is  didactic  and  not  polemic  in  its  style. 
Though  Paul  would  not  have  written  to  strangers  in  the  same 
tone  that  he  employed  in  addressing  his  own  erring,  backsliding 
converts,  yet  he  would  certainly  have  employed  a  far  different 
style  than  that  which  characterizes  this  Epistle,  had  Judaizers 
corrupted  the  chufch  at  Rome  as  they  did  those  churches  in 


INTRODUCTION  291 

Galatia  and  Corinth.  The  purpose  of  the  Epistle,  aside  from 
that  of  preparing  the  church  for  his  visit,  is  easily  discovered. 
The  Judaizing  tendencies  which  had  recently  appeared  in 
Corinth  and  Galatia  were  sure  eventually  to  appear  in  other 
churches,  perhaps  ultimately  in  all,  and  the  attitude  assumed 
by  a  church  already  so  influential  and  destined  to  increase  in 
power  was  sure  to  carry  great  weight  in  deciding  the  contro- 
versy. Therefore,  to  set  the  church  of  Rome  right  as  to  the 
design  and  nature  of  the  gospel  was  a  work  of  supreme  import- 
ance, and  the  great  letter  from  the  great  apostle  to  the  great 
church  on  the  question  of  the  hour  would  be  read  with  interest 
and  profit  by  the  entire  brotherhood.  The  purpose  of  the  letter 
is  to  set  forth,  as  Baur  rightly  expresses  it,  "  both  the  relation 
of  Judaism  and  heathenism  to  each  other,  and  the  relation  of 
both  to  Christianity;"  primarily,  for  the  instruction  of  the 
Christians  in  Rome,  and,  secondarily,  for  the  benefit  of  all  the 
churches  by  the  establishment  of  peace  between  their  Jewish 
and  Gentile  elements,  and,  ultimately,  for  the  enlightening  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  in  all  ages.  Paul's  Jewish  enemies  had, 
as  we  have  seen,  already  been  busy  in  slandering  and  misrep- 
resenting him  even  in  churches  which  he  had  founded.  They 
made  the  apostle  feel  the  limitation  of  travel,  and,  no  doubt, 
caused  him  to  desire  that  he  might  multiply  himself,  so  as  to  be 
in  many  places  at  once.  Within  a  few  days  after  this  Epistle 
was  written  Paul  began  that  journey  wherein  it  was  testified 
to  him  in  every  city  he  passed  through  that  bonds  and  imprison- 
ment awaited  him  in  Jerusalem ;  so  it  is  highly  probable  that 
he  already  had  a  prophetic  premonition  of  his  coming  temporary 
inability  to  visit  the  churches  and  correct,  by  his  presence,  as 
at  Corinth,  the  falsehood  circulated  in  his  absence.  Therefore, 
to  establish  the  churches  in  the  truth,  and  to  preserve  his  own 
salutary  influence  over  them,  how  needful  it  was  that  he  have 
an  Epistle  to  speak  for  him  in  those  coming  days  of  confine- 
ment, and  that  his  friends  have  in  their  possession  his  true 
preaching,  that  they  might  have  **  wherewith  to  answer  them  " 
who  misrepresented  him  and  his  teaching.  And  of  all  Episdes, 
which  could  better  serve  his  purpose  than  one  addressed  to  the 


292  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

Romans,   who  were   at  the  center  of  all  earthly  influences? 

That  the  Epistle  is  authentic  is  conceded  even  by  Baur.  It 
was  quoted  by  Clement  of  Rome  before  the  end  of  the  first 
century;  and  in  the  second  century  by  Ignatius,  Polycarp,  Justin 
Martyr  and  Irenseus  ;  and  the  Muratorian  Fragment,  A.  D.  170, 
places  it  in  the  catalogue  of  Paul's  Epistles.  Its  genuineness, 
too,  is  practically  universally  conceded,  save  that  the  Tubingen 
critics,  with  their  usual  zeal  and  eagerness  to  cast  doubt  upon 
any  portion  of  the  Scripture,  have  questioned  the  last  two 
chapters,  or  rejected  them.  The  reasons  for  doing  this  are  not 
weighty.  The  chapters  are  called  in  question,  not  because  they 
are  omitted  from  any  manuscripts  now  known,  but  from  certain 
that  are  mentioned  by  the  Fathers.  But  those  who  tell  us  of 
these  mutilated  copies  (Tertullian,  and  especially  Origen)  also 
inform  us  that  that  arch-heretic,  Marcion,  was  the  offender  who 
thus  abbreviated  them,  and  that  he  did  so  for  the  reason  that 
he  found  in  them  passages  which  he  wished  to  suppress  because 
they  conflicted  with  his  own  erroneous  teaching.  Surely  the 
knife  of  Marcion  should  cast  no  more  doubt  over  the  Epistle  of 
Paul  than  that  of  Jehoiakim  did  over  the  writings  of  Jeremiah. 
As  a  simple  analysis  of  the  book,  we  submit  the  following: 

PART  I.  DOCTRINAL.  The  universal  need  of  right- 
eousness satisfied  by  the  gospel,  as  is  shown  by  the  manifold 
results  emanati?ig  fro77t  gospel  righteousfiess  and  justifica- 
tio7i  (i:  1-8:  39).  Subdivision  A.  Introductory.  Salutation 
and  personal  explanation  (i:  1-15).  Righteousness  by  the  gos- 
pel (i:  16,  17).  Subdivision  B.  Universal  need  of  right- 
eousness.  Need  of  righteousness  by  the  Gentiles  (i:  18-32). 
Need  of  righteousness  by  the  Jews  (2:  1-29).  Jewish  privilege 
does  not  diminish  guilt,  and  the  Scriptures  include  both  Jew 
and  Gentile  alike  under  sin  (3:  1-20).  Subdivision  C.  Uni- 
versal need  of  righteousness  satisfied  by  the  gospel  proclama- 
tion of  righteousness  by  faith.  Neither  Jew  nor  Greek  can 
obtain  righteousness  otherwise  than  by  the  gospel  (3:  21-31). 
The  gospel  method  of  justification,  exemplified  in  the  cases  of 
Abraham  and  David,  must  be  applied  both  to  the  legal  and 
spiritual  seed  of  Abraham  (4:  1-25).    Subdivision  D.    Results 


INTRODUCTION  293 

of  Christ's  life  discussed,  and  showfi  to  be  capable  of  as  limit- 
less universality  as  the  results  of  Adam' s  life.  Results  of  the 
justification  wrought  by  Christ,  viz.:  peace,  hope,  love  and 
reconciliation  (5:  i-ii).  Adam,  the  trespasser  unto  death,  con- 
trasted with  Christ,  the  righteous  unto  life  (5:  12-21).  Subdi- 
vision E.  Sanctification  of  the  believer  required,  and  ob- 
tained ill  change  of  relationship  by  the  gospel.  Justification 
is  brought  about  by  such  a  relation  to  Christ  as  creates  an  obli- 
gation to  be  dead  to  sin  and  alive  to  righteousness,  as  is  sym- 
bolically shown  by  baptism  (6:  1-14).  Justification  results  in 
a  change  from  service  of  law  and  sin,  with  death  as  a  reward, 
to  the  service  of  grace  and  righteousness,  with  life  as  a  reward 
(6:  15-22).  Change  of  relationship  from  law  to  Christ  illus- 
trated (7:  1-6).  The  sense  of  bondage  which  comes  through 
the  relationship  of  the  law  prepares  the  soul  to  seek  deliverance 
through  relationship  to  Christ  (7:  7-25).  The  new  relationship 
to  Christ  changes  the  mind  from  carnal  to  spiritual,  so  that  we 
escape  condemnation  and  obtain  life  (8:  i-ii).  The  new  rela- 
tionship to  Christ  results  in  adoption,  the  spirit  of  adoption,  and 
that  heirship  for  the  revelation  of  which  creation  groans  (8:  12- 
25).  The  new  relationship  results  in  the  aid  of  the  Spirit,  and 
the  blissful  assurance  of  salvation,  because  it  is  divinely  decreed 
(8:  26-39). 

PART  II.  EXPLANATORY.  The  doctrifie  of  right- 
eousness by  faith  7'econciled  to  •  (: )  the  pToviises  made  to  Is- 
rael; (2)  the  election  of  that  people,  and  (3)  the  faithfulness 
of  God  (9:  i-ii:  36).  Mourning  for  Israel  (9:  1-15).  The  re- 
jection of  Israel  not  inconsistent  with  God's  promise,  which 
has  been  kept  to  those  to  whom  it  was  given  (9:6-13).  The 
rejection  of  Israel  not  inconsistent  with  the  justice  of  God 
(9:  14-18).  God's  absolute  power  asserted,  his  justice  and 
mercy  vindicated,  and  his  course  in  rejecting  the  Jews  not  in- 
consistent with  prophecy  (9:  19-29).  Gentiles  following  the  law 
of  faith  contrasted  with  Jews  following  the  law  of  works  (9:  30- 
33)-  Jews  responsible  for  their  rejection,  since  they  had  an 
equal  chance  with  the  Gentiles  of  being  accepted  (10:  1-13). 
Righteousness  comes  by  faith,  and  faith  comes  by  that  hearing 


294  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

as  to  which  Jews  and  Gentiles  had  equal  opportunity  (lo:  14- 
21).  The  casting-off  of  Israel  not  so  complete  as  supposed,  a 
remnant  being  saved  by  faith  (11:1-10).  Salutary  results  of 
the  temporary  fall  and  future  rise  of  Israel.  Gentiles  warned 
not  to  glory  over  Israel  (11:  11-24).  Jews  and  Gentiles  having 
each  passed  through  alike  season  of  disobedience,  alike  mercy 
shall  be  shown  to  each  (11:25-32).  Ascriptions  of  praise  to 
God  for  his  ways  and  judgment  (11:  3-36). 

PART  III.  HORTATORY.  Various  duties  eiijoined, 
and  mutual  toleratio7i  enforced  (12:  1-14:  23).  Self-dedication 
besought,  and  self-conceit  discouraged  (12:  1-8).  A  galaxy  of 
virtues  (12:  21).  Concerning  governments,  love  and  approach- 
ing salvation  (13:  1-14).  Forbearance  towards  scruples,  refrain- 
ing from  judging,  sacrifice  for  others  (14:  1-23). 

PART  IV.  -  SUPPLEMENTARY.  Concluding  exhor- 
tations and  salutations  (15:  1-16:  27).  Exhortations  to  mutual 
helpfulness.  The  Gentiles  to  glorify  God  (15:  1-13).  The 
apostle's  ministry  and  plans.  Request  for  prayers  (15:  14-33)- 
Commendation  of  Phoebe.  Salutations.  Warnings  against 
dissension  and  apostasy.     Benediction  (16:  1-25). 


PERSONAL   EXPLANATIONS  295 


PART   FIRST. 

DOCTRINAL:  THE  UNIVERSAL  NEED  OF 
RIGHTEOUSNESS  SATISFIED  BY  THE 
GOSPEL,  AS  IS  SHOWN  BY  THE  MANIFOLD 
RESULTS  EMANATING  FROM  GOSPEL 
RIGHTEOUSNESS   AND   JUSTIFICATION. 

1:1-8:3. 

Subdivision  A. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

i:  1-17. 

I. 

SALUTATION  AND  PERSONAL  EXPLANATIONS. 

i:  1-15. 

I  Paul,  a  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  called  to  he  an 
apostle,  separated  unto  the  gospel  of  God,  2  which  he 
promised  afore  through  his  prophets  in  the  holy 
scriptures,  3  concerning  his  Son,  who  was  born  of 
the  seed  of  David  according  to  the  flesh,  4  who  was 
declared  to  he  the  Son  of  God  with  power,  according 
to  the  spirit  of  holiness,  by  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead;  even  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  5  through  whom 
we  received  grace  and  apostleship,  unto  obedience  of 
faith  among  all  the  nations,  for  his  name's  sake ;  6 
among  whom  are  ye  also,  called  to  he  Jesus  Christ's : 
7  to  all  that  are  in  Rome,  beloved  of  God,  called  to 
he  saints :  Grace  to  you  and  peace  from  God  our 
Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  [The  apostle  opens  his 
Epistle  with  one  of  his  characteristic  sentences :  long  and  in- 
tricate, yet  wonderful  in  its  condensation  and  comprehensive- 


296  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

ness;  his  style  of  expression  being,  as  Tholuck  says,  "most 
aptly  compared  to  a  throng  of  waves,  where,  in  ever  loftier 
swell,  one  billow  presses  close  upon  the  other."  The' opening 
here  may  be  compared  with  that  at  Gal.  i:  1-5.  Taken  without 
its  qualifying  clauses,  the  sentence  runs  thus  :  "  Paul  to  all 
that  are  at  Rome :  Grace  to  you  and  peace  from  God  our 
Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  (Comp.  Acts  23:  26.)  This 
sentence  the  apostle  enlarges  by  three  series  of  statements 
which  lead  up  to  each  other,  and  the  items  of  which  also  intro- 
duce each  other,  thus  forming  a  closely  connected  chain  of 
thought.  First,  by  statements  about  himself,  which  assert  that 
he,  Paul,  is  an  apostle,  separated  from  worldly  occupations,  and 
sent  out  to  preach  the  gospel  (Gal.  i:  15  ;  Acts  9:  15  ;  22:  14, 
15);  second,  by  statements  about  iht  gospel,  viz.:  that  it  had 
its  source  of  origin  in  God,  that  it  was  no  innovation,  being 
promised  long  beforehand  through  the  prophets  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures  (comp.  Acts  26:22;  see  Mic.  4:2;  Isa.  40:  9 ;  52: 
7;  Nah.  i:  15);  that  it  concerned  God's  Son  ;  third,  by  state- 
ments about  God's  So7i,V\z.:  that  according  to  the  flesh  {i.  e., 
as  to  his  human  or  fleshly  nature)  he  was  born  (in  the  weakness 
of  a  child),  and  thus  came  into  being  as  a  descendant  of  David 
(which  was  required  by  prophecy — Ps.  89:  36;  132:  11,  12  ;  Jer. 
23:  5);  that  according  to  the  spirit  of  purity  or  holiness  (/.  ^.,  as 
to  his  spiritual  or  divine  nature,  which,  though  a  Sonship,  was 
birthless,  and  hence  did  ?iot  come  into  being,  but  existed  from 
the  beginning)  he  was  pointed  out,  declared  or  demonstrated 
to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  power ;  which  power  manifested 
itself  by  triumphing  over  death  in  his  resurrection  (Ps.  7:2; 
16:  10.  Comp.  2  Tim.  2:  8;  Acts  12:  23,  30);  and  that  the  Son 
of  God  IS  Jesus  Chf'ist  our  Lo7'd.  Thus  Paul's  thought  com- 
pletes its  circle,  and  comes  back  again  to  himself  and  his 
apostleship,  and  introduces  the  second  series  of  statements, 
which  are  about  himself  and  his  apostleship  in  this  gospel  of  the 
Son  of  God  :  First,  that  through  this  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord 
he  had  received  grace  (/.  e.,  forgiveness,  reconciliation,  salva- 
tion, and  all  the  other  blessings  which  the  gospel  bestows),  and 
the  apostleship  of  which  he  has  spoken ;  and  that  the  aim  of 


PERSONAL   EXPLANATIONS  297 

that  apostleship,  or  the  purpose  for  which  he  was  sent,  is  (i)  to 
produce  among  all  nations,  i.  e.,  the  Gentiles,  that  obedience  to 
the  will  of  God  which  results  from  faith,  or  belief,  in  Jesus  Christ, 
and  (2)  to  glorify  or  exalt  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  by  promot- 
ing this  obedience,  etc.  (Acts  9:  15)  ;  (the  majesty,  dignity  and 
authority  of  the  apostleship  are  emphasized  by  the  Lordship  of 
him  who  gave  it,  by  the  world-wide  scope  of  it  and  the  glorious 
purpose  of  it) ;  second,  that  his  apostleship  embraced  those  to 
whom  he  wrote,  since  they  were  also  Gentiles,  who  had  been 
called  into  this  faith  which  made  them  Christ's.  And  here  the 
second  series  leads  to  the  third,  and  Paul  now  addresses  the 
Roman  Christians,  to  whom  he  writes,  and  states  that  they  are  : 
(i)  the  object  of  God's  love,  and  (2)  called  to  that  obedience 
of  faith  which  separates  from  sin  and  makes  holy.  Thus,  step 
by  step,  Paul  explains  as  to  what  gospel  he  is  an  apostle,  as  to 
whom  his  gospel  relates,  from  whom  he  received  his  apostle- 
ship, for  what  purpose  he  had  received  it,  what  right  it  gave 
him  to  indite  this  letter,  and  to  whom  the  letter  was  addressed. 
So  much  for  the  paragraph  as  a  whole.  Looking  over  its  items, 
we  may  remark  that:  the  term  "servant"  employed  by  Paul 
appHed  to  all  Christians  generally  (i  Cor.  7:  22 ;  Eph.  6:  6)  ; 
but  the  apostles  loved  to  appropriate  it,  as  expressing  their  en- 
tire devotion  to  Christ  and  his  people,  and  lack  of  all  official 
pride  (Jas.  1:1;  2  Pet.  1:1;  Jude  i ;  Rev.  1:1).  The 
phrase  "spirit  of  holiness"  is  equivalent  to  Holy  Spirit.  It 
serves  to  show  that  Jesus  had  the  same  divine  nature  as  the 
Holy  Spirit,  yet  does  not  confuse  the  two  personalities,  so  as  to 
lose  our  Lord's  identity.  The  resurrection  of  our  Lord  differed 
from  all  other  resurrections  in  several  important  respects,  each 
of  which  aided  to  reveal  his  divinity:  (i)  The  prophets  an- 
nounced it  beforehand  (Ps.  16:  10,  11).  (2)  He  himself  an- 
nounced it  beforehand  (Matt.  16:  21).  (3)  The  power  which 
raised  him  was  not  external  to  him,  but  within  him  (John  2: 
19  ;  10:  17,  18).  (4)  It  was  a  representative  and  all-inclusive 
resurrection  (i  Cor.  15:  22).  (5)  It  was  not  a  temporary  res- 
toration, like  the  cases  of  Lazarus  and  others  who  returned 
once  more  to  the  grave,  but  an  eternal  triumph  over  death  (6: 


298  EPIS'ILE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

9;  Rev.  1:18).  (6)  It  was  the  firstfruits  of  a  like  immortality 
for  all  those  who,  being  part  of  the  mystical  body  of  Christ, 
shall  be  raised  with  him  at  the  last  day  (i  Cor.  15:  23-26).  Lard, 
in  his  comments  on  this  paragraph,  calls  attention  to  the  fact 
that  faith  and  belief  are  absolutely  synonymous,  for  the  two 
words  in  our  English  Bible  are  represented  by  one  single  sub- 
stantive in  the  Greek  text,  viz.:  pistis,  which  is  derived  from 
the  \txh  pisteuoo,  which  is  uniformly  translated  "believe."  An 
endless  amount  of  theological  discussion  and  mystical  preaching 
would  have  been  avoided  if  our  translators  had  not  given  us 
two  words  where  one  would  have  sufficed.  Having  in  his 
opening  address  shown  that  he  had  an  official  right  to  write  to 
the  church  at  Rome,  the  apostle  next  reveals  to  them  that  he 
has  an  additional  right  to  do  so  because  of  his  interest  in  them 
and  affection  for  them,  which  is  manifested  by  his  thanksgiv- 
ings, prayers,  etc.]  8  First  \_i.  e.,  before  I  proceed  to  other 
matters,  I  wish  you  to  know  that],  I  thank  my  God  through 
Jesus  Christ  for  you  all,  that  your  faith  is  proclaimed 
throughout  the  whole  world.  [Through  the  mediation  of 
Christ  (comp.  Heb.  13:15;  2  Pet.  2:5;  Col.  3:17;  Eph.  5: 
20)  Paul  offers  thanks  on  account  of  the  Christians  at  Rome, 
because  their  faith  had  so  openly  and  notoriously  changed  their 
lives  from  sin  to  righteousness  that,  wherever  the  apostle  went, 
he  found  the  churches  in  the  whole  Roman  world,  which  then 
embraced  western  Asia,  northern  Africa  and  almost  the  whole 
of  Europe,  took  notice  of  it.  The  apostle  realized  the  incal- 
culable good  which  would  result  from  the  proper  enthronement 
of  Christ  in  so  important  a  center  as  Rome,  and  in  view  of  its 
future  effects  on  the  world,  its  present  influence  over  the 
church,  its  tendency  to  lighten  and  facilitate  his  own  labors, 
and  many  like  blessings  and  benefits,  Paul  thanks  God  that  his 
enthronement  had  taken  place  in  the  loyal  heart  of  those  whom 
he  addresses.  He  refers  to  the  knowledge  of  believers,  for  the 
church  was  comparatively  unknown  to  unbelievers,  even  in  the 
city  itself — Acts  28:  22.]  9  For  God  is  my  witness,  whom 
I  serve  in  my  spirit  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son,  how  un- 
ceasingly I  make  mention  of  you,  always  in  my  pray- 


PERSONAL   EXPLANATIONS  299 

ers  10  making  request,  if  by  any  means  now  at  length 
I  may  be  prospered  by  the  will  of  God  to  come  unto 
you.  [Since  he  could  call  no  other  witness  as  to  the  substance 
or  contents  of  his  secret  prayers,  he  reverently  appeals  to  God 
to  verify  his  words,  that  he  had  continually  remembered  the 
Romans  in  his  petitions,  and  had  requested  that,  having  been 
so  long  denied  it,  the  privilege  of  visiting  the  church  at  Rome 
might  now  at  last  be  granted  to  him.  Paul's  appeals  to  God  to 
verify  his  words  are  quite  common  (2  Cor.  i:  23;  11:  31  ;  Gal. 
i:  20,  etc.).  He  describes  God  as  one  whom  he  serves  not  only 
outwardly  but  inwardly,  pubhshing  the  gospel  of  his  Son  with 
hearty  zeal,  devotion  and  joy.  He  had  traveled  widely  and 
constantly;  his  failure,  therefore,  to  visit  Rome  might  look  like 
indifference,  and  his  impending  departure  from  Corinth,  not 
toward  Rome,  which  was  now  comparatively  near,  but  in  the 
opposite  direction,  might  suggest  that  he  was  ashamed  to  ap- 
pear or  preach  in  the  imperial  city.  The  apostle  replies  to  all 
this  by  simply  stating,  and  asking  God  to  verify  the  statement, 
that  God  had  not  yet  prospered  him  in  his  plans  or  efforts  to  go 
to  Rome.]  11  For  I  long  to  see  you,  that  I  may  impart 
unto  you  some  spiritual  gift,  to  the  end  ye  may  be  es- 
tablished ;  12  that  is,  that  I  with  you  may  be  comforted 
in  you,  each  of  us  by  the  other's  faith,  both  yours  and 
mine.  [Paul  here  sets  forth  the  reason  why  he  so  earnestly 
desired  to  visit  the  church  at  Rome ;  it  was  because  he  wished 
to  enjoy  the  blessedness  both  of  giving  and  receiving.  Spiritual 
gifts  are  those  wrought  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  of  these  Paul 
had  two  kinds  to  bestow  :  i,  extraordinary  or  miraculous,  and 
2,  ordinary,  or  those  pertaining  to  the  Christian  graces.  No 
doubt  he  had  the  bestowal  of  both  of  these  gifts  in  mind,  for 
no  apostle  had  yet  visited  the  church  to  bestow  the  former,  and, 
from  the  list  of  gifts  recorded  at  12:  6-8,  it  appears  that  that  of 
prophecy  was  the  only  miraculous  one  they  possessed  ;  and  the 
context,  especially  verse  12,  indicates  that  the  latter,  or  ordinary 
gifts,  were  also  in  his  thoughts.  Because  their  faiths  were 
essentially  the  same,  Paul  here  acknowledges  the  ability  of  all 
disciples,  even  the  humblest,  to  comfort,  i.  e.^  to  encourage 


300  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

and  help  him  by  a  strengthening  of  his  faith;  because  their 
steadfastness  would  react  on  him.    Gifts,  whether  of  a  miracu- 
lous nature,  or  merely  graces,  tended  to  establish  or  strengthen 
the  church.]     13  And  I  would  not  have  you  ignorant, 
brethren,  that  oftentimes  I  purposed  to  come  unto  you 
(and  was  hindered  hitherto),  that  I  might  have  some 
fruit  in  you  also,  even  as  in  the  rest  of  the  Gentiles. 
[He  had  desired  to  visit  Rome  that  he  might  glorify  Christ  by 
making  many  converts  in  Rome  (John  15:  8,  16),  just  as  he  had 
in  other  Gentile  cities.     "  That,"  says  Meyer,  "  by  which  Paul 
had  been    hitherto   hindered,   may  be  seen  at  15:  22  ;  conse- 
quently it  was  neither  the  devil  (i  Thess.  2:  18),  nor  the  Holy 
Spirit  (Acts  16:  6).    Grotius  aptly  observes  :   "  The  great  needs 
of  the  localities  in  which  Christ  was  unknown  constrained  him." 
But  the  word  at  15:  22,  and  also  at  i  Thess.  2:  18,  is  egkoptoo, 
and  the  word  here,  and  at  Acts  16:  6,  is  kooluoo,  which,  pri- 
marily, means  to  forbid,  and  implies  the  exercise  of  a  superior 
will.     The  whole  context  here  indicates  that  the  divine  will 
restrained  Paul  from  going  to  Rome,  and  this  in  no  way  con- 
flicts with  the  statement  that  the  needs  of  the  mission  fields 
hindered  him.     God's  will  forbade,  and  the  needs  co-operated 
to  restrain  ;  just  as  in  the  instance  in  Acts,  the  Holy  Spirit  for- 
bade to  go  any  way  save  toward  Europe,  and  the  visionary  cry 
from  Europe  drew  onward.     Two  causes  may  conspire  to  pro- 
duce one  effect.     Paul's  entire  will  was  subject  to  the  will  of 
Christ.     As  a  free  man  he  formed  his  plans  and  purposes,  but 
he  always  altered  them  to  suit  the  divine  pleasure.      14  I  am 
debtor  both  to   Greeks  and  to  Barbarians    [foreigners, 
those  who  did  not  speak  the  Greek  language],  both  to  the 
wise  and  to  the  foolish.     15  So,  as  much  as  in  me  is, 
I  am  ready  to  preach  the  gospel  to  you  also  that  are  in 
Rome.     [Paul's  knowledge  of  the  good  news,  and  his  apostle- 
ship  as  to  it,  laid  upon  him  the  sacred  obligation  to  tell  it  to  all 
who  had   not  heard  it  (i  Cor.  9:16-19).     His  commission   as 
apostle  to  the  Gentiles  sent  him  to  both  Greeks  and  Barbarians, 
the  two  classes  into  which  the  Gentiles  were  divided  ;   and  left 
him  no  right  to  discriminate  between  the   cultured   and  the 


PERSONAL   EXPLANATIONS  301 

ignorant.  Moved  by  a  desire  to  pay  this  debt,  he  was  ready, 
so  far  as  the  direction  of  his  affairs  lay  in  his  own  power  of 
choice,  to  preach  to  the  Romans,  who  held  no  mean  place 
among  the  Gentiles.] 

II. 

RIGHTEOUSNESS   BY   THE   GOSPEL. 

i:  i6,  17. 

16  For  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel :  for  it  is  the 
power  of  God   unto   salvation  to  every  one  that  be- 
lieveth  ;  to  the  Jew  first,  and  also  to  the  Greek.    17  For 
therein  is  revealed  a  righteousness  of  God  from  faith 
unto  faith  :  as  it  is  written  [Hab.  2:  4] ,  But  the  righteous 
shall  live  by  faith.     [This  paragraph  has  been  rightly  called 
the  *'  Theme  "  of  the  Epistle,  for  all  from  i:  19  to  11:  36  is  but 
an  expansion  of  this  section.     Since,  therefore,  its  meaning 
determines  the  gist  of  the  entire  Epistle,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  commentators   and  theologians  have   made   it  a  royal 
battleground.     Limitations  of  space  forbid  us  to  even  give  an 
outline  of  these  controversies.     We  content  ourselves  with  the 
following  paraphrase,  which,  we  think,  makes  plain  the  apos- 
tle's meaning  :   I  am  ready  to  preach  in  your  imperial  city,  for 
even  there,  where  things  of  such  magnitude  transpire  that  all 
things  else  seem  small  by  comparison,  I  should  not  be  ashamed 
of  the  gospel.     Among  the  Greeks,  who  prided  themselves  on 
their  wisdom,  my  gospel  was  demonstrated  to  be  the  superior 
wisdom  of  God  (i    Cor.   1:30;  2:7);   and  so  I   would  come 
among  you  Romans,  who  compare  all  things  with  your  imperial 
power,  and  I  would  show  that  I  had  no  reason  to  be  ashamed, 
for  I  would  declare  or  publish  unto  you  that  gospel  which  is 
the  power  of  God  in  the  all-important  and  incomparable  work 
of  saving  men,  all  of  whom  are  lost  in  sin,  and  any  of  whom 
can  be  saved  when  he  believes  this  gospel,  whether  he  be  one 
of  God's  chosen  people,  who  have  the  first  right  to  hear  it,  or  a 
Gentile.     It  is  God's  power  unto  salvation,  for  it  brings  sinful 
men  a  righteousness  which  emanates  from  God,  and  which  he 


302  EPISTLE    TO   THE  ROMANS 

freely  gives  to  believers,  so  that  they  are  accounted  righteous, 
and  this  righteousness,  from  first  to  last,  is  altogether  bestowed 
upon  faith,  so  that  whatever  righteousness  a  man  has  comes 
by  faith,  just  as  it  was  predicted  in  the  Old  Testament,  for  God 
there  says :  The  man  who  is  declared  righteous  lives  by  faith; 
i.  e.,  if  his  righteousness  redeems  him  from  sin  and  death  and 
so  entitles  him  to  live,  it  does  so  because  it  is  a  righteousness 
obtained  by  faith.] 

Subdivision   B. 

UNIVERSAL   NEED  OF   RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

i:  18-3:  20. 

I. 

NEED  OF  RIGHTEOUSNESS  BY  THE  GENTILES. 

i:  18-32. 

18  For  the  wrath  of  God  is  revealed  from  heaven 
against  all  ungodliness  and  unrighteousness  of  men, 
who  hinder  the  truth  in  unrighteousness  [''For"  is 
intended  to  introduce  a  direct  proof  as  to  the  statement  in  verse 
17,  thus  :  The  righteousness  of  God  of  which  the  apostle  has 
been  speaking  is  revealed  to  a  man  by  his  faith  ;  i.  e.,  it  is  seen 
only  by  the  believing,  for  all  that  others  see  revealed  towards 
man's  unrighteousness  is  wrath.  In  other  words,  only  God's 
gospel  reveals  this  righteousness,  and  it  is  addressed  to  and  re- 
ceived by  faith.  God's  other  revelations  seen  in  nature  reveal 
no  pardoning,  justifying  grace  ;  but  show,  in  the  visitations  of 
terrible  judgments,  retributions,  punitive  corrections,  deaths, 
etc.,  that  God  pours  out  the  fruits  of  his  displeasure  on  the 
wickedness  of  men,  whether  it  be  sin  against  himself  (ungod- 
liness), or  sin  against  the  laws  and  precepts  which  he  has  given 
(unrighteousness),  either  sin  being  a  stifling  of  the  truth  which 
they  knew  about  God,  by  willful  indulgences  in  unrighteous- 
ness. The  apostle  is  here  speaking  of  the  Gentiles  ;  he  dis- 
cusses the  case  of  the  Jews  separately  later  on.     The  precepts, 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  BY   THE   GENTILES    303 

truth,  etc.,  to  which  he  refers  are,  therefore,  not  those  found 
in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  which  were  known  to  the 
Jews;  but  those  which  were  traditionally  handed  down  by  and 
among  the  heathen  from  the  patriarchal  days.  "All  the  light," 
as  Poole  says,  "  which  was  left  in  man  since  the  fall  "]  ;  19  be- 
cause that  which  is  known  of  God  is  manifest  in  them ; 
for  God  manifested  it  unto  them.  20  For  the  invisible 
things  of  him  since  the  creation  of  the  world  are  clearly- 
seen,  being  perceived  through  the  things  that  are  made, 
even  his  everlasting  power  and  divinity ;  that  they  may 
be  without  excuse  [and  God  reveals  his  wrath  against 
them,  because  that  which  is  known  of  God,  i.  e.,  the  general 
truths  as  to  his  nature  and  attributes,  is  manifested  unto  them ; 
for  God  himself  so  manifested  it,  causing  his  invisible  attributes, 
even  his  power,  divinity,  etc.,  to  be  constantly  and  clearly  re- 
vealed in  the  providential  working  of  nature  from  the  hour  of 
creation's  beginning,  until  now,  that  they  may  be  without  ex- 
cuse for  sin,  and  so  justly  punishable]  :  21  because  that, 
know^ing  God,  they  glorified  him  not  as  God,  neither 
gave  thanks  ;  but  became  vain  in  their  reasonings,  and 
their  senseless  heart  w^as  darkened.  [And  they  were 
without  excuse,  for  when  they  knew  God  they  did  not  worship 
him  according  to  the  knowledge  which  they  had,  nor  did  they 
praise  him  for  his  benefits ;  but  they  erred  in  their  mind,  thus 
making  their  whole  inner  man  senseless  and  dark,  not  having 
the  light  of  truth  with  which  they  started.  The  phrase,  "vain 
in  their  reasonings,"  means  that  their  corrupt  lives  corrupted 
their  minds,  for,  as  Tholuck  observes,  **  religious  and  moral 
error  is  always  the  consequence  of  religious  and  moral  perver- 
sity." As  Calvin  expresses  it:  "  They  quickly  choked  by  their 
own  depravity  the  seed  of  right  knowledge  before  it  grew  to 
ripeness."]  22  Professing  themselves  to  be  wise,  they 
became  fools,  23  and  changed  the  glory  of  the  incor- 
ruptible God  for  the  likeness  of  an  image  of  corruptible 
man,  and  of  birds,  and  four-footed  beasts,  and  creeping 
things.  [Vaunting  their  wisdom,  these  wicked  ones  made 
fools  of  themselves,  so  that  they  exchanged  the  glory  of  the  im- 


304  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

mortal  God  for  the  likeness  of  an  image  of  mortal  man,  or  even 
images  of  baser  things,  as  birds,  beasts  and  reptiles.  The 
audacity  of  the  attempt  to  reason  God  out  of  existence  has  in- 
variably turned  the  brain  of  man  (Ps.  53:  i),  and  the  excess  of 
self-conceit  and  vanity  developed  by  such  an  undertaking  has 
uniformly  resulted  in  pitiable  folly.  In  the  case  of  the  ancients 
it  led  to  idolatry.  Reiche  contended  that  idolatry  preceded 
monotheism,  and  that  the  better  was  developed  out  of  the 
worse ;  but  history  sustains  Paul  in  presenting  idolatry  as  a  de- 
cline from  a  purer  form  of  worship.  "  For,"  says  Meyer, 
"  heathenism  is  not  the  primeval  religion,  from  which  man 
might  gradually  have  risen  to  the  true  knowledge  of  the  wisdom 
of  God,  but  is,  on  the  contrary,  the  result  of  a  falling  away 
from  the  known  original  revelation  of  the  true  God  in  his 
works."  Paul  does  not  say  that  they  exchanged  the  "form  " 
of  God  for  that  of  an  idol,  for  God  is  sensuously  perceived  as 
glory,  or  shekiiiah,  rather  than  as  form.  Hence,  Moses  asked 
to  see,  not  the  form,  but  the  glory  of  God  (Ex.  33:  18-22).  The 
Greeks  and  Romans  preferred  the  human  form  as  the  model 
for  their  idols,  but  the  Egyptians  chose  the  baser,  doubtless 
because,  having  been  longer  engaged  in  the  practice  of  idol- 
atry, their  system  was  more  fully  developed  in  degradation. 
The  ibis,  the  bull,  the  serpent  and  the  crocodile  of  the  Egyp- 
tians give  us  the  complements  of  Paul's  catalogue.  Schaff  sees 
in  the  phrase  "  likeness  of  an  image  "  a  double  meaning,  and 
interprets  it  thus:  "The  expression  refers  both  to  the  grosser 
and  the  more  refined  forms  of  idolatry;  common  people  saw  in 
the  idols  the  gods  themselves;  the  cultivated  heathen  regarded 
them  as  symbolical  representations."]  24  Wherefore  God 
gave  them  up  in  the  lusts  of  their  hearts  unto  unclean- 
ness ,  that  their  bodies  should  be  dishonored  among 
themselves :  25  for  that  they  exchanged  the  truth  of 
God  for  a  lie,  and  worshipped  and  served  the  creature 
rather  than  the  Creator,  who  is  blessed  for  ever.  Amen. 
[Wherefore,  finding  them  living  in  lust,  God  ceased  to  restrain 
or  protect  them  from  evil  (Gen.  6:  3),  and  abandoned  them  to 
the  uncleanness  toward  which  their  lust  incited  them,  that  they 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  BY   THE    GENTHES     305 

might  dishonor  their  bodies  among  themselves  to  the  Hmit  of 
their  lustfulness,  as  a  punishment  for  dishonoring  and  abandon- 
ing him.  He  did  this  because  they  had  exchanged  the  truth 
of  God  (which  from  the  start  they  had  hindered  in  unrighteous- 
ness, vs.  i8),  i.  e.,  the  truth  respecting  God  and  his  law  and 
worship,  for  the  sham  of  idolatry  and  the  false  worship  pertain- 
ing thereto,  and  because  they  had  given  to  the  creature  that 
inward  reverence  and  outward  service  which  was  due  to  the 
Creator,  thus  preferring  the  creature  to  the  Creator,  who  is 
blessed  for  ever.  Amen.  "  '  Blessed  '  is  not  the  word  signifying 
happy,  rendered  blessed  in  Matt.  5:  3-1 1  ;  i  Tim.  i:  11  ;  6:  15  ; 
but  the  word  signifying  praised,  adored,  extolled  ;  /.  e.,  worthy 
to  be  praised,  etc.  In  the  New  Testament  this  word  is  applied 
to  none  but  to  God  only ;  though  the  cognate  verb  is  used  to 
express  the  good  wishes  and  hearty  prayers  of  one  creature  for 
another,  as  well  as  praise  to  God — comp.  Heb.  11:  20,  21  ;  Jas. 
3:  9"— /Y/^;«(?r.]  26  For  this  cause  God  gave  them  up 
unto  vile  passions :  for  their  vi^omen  changed  the 
natural  use  into  that  which  is  against  nature :  27  and 
likewise  also  the  men,  leaving  the  natural  use  of  the 
w^oman,  burned  in  their  lust  one  toward  another,  men 
with  men  working  unseemliness,  and  receiving  in 
themselves  that  recompense  of  their  error  which  was 
due.  [In  this  horrible  picture  Paul  shows  in  what  way  they 
dishonored  themselves  among  themselves.  The  sin  of  sodomy 
was  common  among  idolaters.  The  apostle  tells  us  that  this 
depth  of  depravity  was  a  just  punishment  for  their  departure 
from  God.  Petronius,  Suetonius,  Martial,  Seneca,  Virgil, 
Juvenal,  Lucian  and  other  classic  writers  verify  the  statements 
of  Paul.  Some  of  their  testimonies  will  be  found  in  Macknight, 
Stuart  and  other  larger  commentaries.]  28  And  even  as  they 
refused  [did  not  deem  it  worthy  of  their  mind]  to  have  God 
in  their  knowledge,  God  gave  them  up  unto  a  reprobate 
mind  [z.  e.,  minds  rejected  in  turn  by  God  as  unwoithy],  to 
do  those  things  which  are  not  fitting  [indecent,  immoral]  ; 
29  being  filled  with  all  unrighteousness,  wickedness, 
covetousness  [inordinate  desire  to  accumulate  property  re- 


306  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

gardless  of  the  rights  of  others:  a  sin  which  is  not  condemned 
by  the  laws  of  any  country  on  the  globe,  and  which  is  the 
source  of  universal  unrest  in  all  nations],  maliciousness  [a 
readiness  to  commit  crime  without  provocation,  a  chronic  state 
of  illwill  and  misanthropy]  ;  full  of  envy,  murder,  strife, 
deceit,  malignity;  whisperers  [talebearers,  those  who 
slander  covertly,  chiefly  by  insinuation— Prov.  i6:  28],  30  back- 
biters [outspoken  slanderers],  hateful  to  God  [many  contend 
that  this  should  read  "haters  of  God,"  since  Paul  is  enumer- 
ating the  vices  of  men,  and  not  God's  attitude  toward  them. 
Others,  following  the  reading  in  the  text,  see  in  these  words  what 
Meyer  calls  "a  resting-point  in  the  disgraceful  catalogue" — 
a  place  where  Paul  pauses  to  reveal  God's  moral  indignation 
toward  the  crimes  particularized.  But  Alford  takes  the  words 
in  a  colloquial  sense  as  describing  the  political  informers  of  that 
period.  "If,"  says  he,  "any  crime  was  known  more  than 
another,  as  'hated  by  the  God,'  it  was  that  of  informers,  aban- 
doned persons  who  circumvented  and  ruined  others  by  a  system 
of  malignant  espionage  and  false  information,"  though  he  does 
not  confine  the  term  wholly  to  that  class],  insolent,  haughty, 
boastful  [these  three  words  describe  the  various  phases  of  self- 
exultation,  which,  a  sin  in  all  ages,  was  at  that  time  indulged  in 
to  the  extent  of  blasphemy,  for  Cicero,  Juvenal  and  Horace  all 
claim  that  virtue  is  from  man  himself,  and  not  from  God], 
inventors  of  evil  things  [inventors  of  new  methods  of  evad- 
ing laws,  schemers  who  discover  new  ways  by  which  to  unjustly 
accumulate  property,  discoverers  of  new  forms  of  sensuous, 
lustful  gratification,  etc.],  disobedient  to  parents,  31  with- 
out understanding  [those  who  have  so  long  seared  their 
consciences  as  to  be  unable  to  determine  between  right  and 
wrong  even  in  plain  cases.  The  loss  of  moral  understanding  is 
very  apparent  among  habitual  liars,  whose  minds  have  become 
so  accustomed  to  falsehood  that  they  are  no  longer  able  to  dis- 
cern the  truth  so  as  to  accurately  state  it],  covenant- breakers 
[those  who  fail  to  keep  their  promises  and  agreements],  with- 
out natural  affection  [those  having  an  abnormal  lack  of  love 
towards  parents,   children,   kindred,   etc.],  unmerciful:    32 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  BY    THE   GENTILES    307 

who,  knowing  the  ordinance  of  God,  that  they  that 
practise  such  things  are  worthy  of  death,  not  only  do 
the  same,  but  also  consent  with  them  that  practise 
them.  [All  were  not  guilty  of  all  these  sins,  but  each  was 
guilty  of  some  of  them.  Though  many  of  these  evils  still  exist 
in  Christian  lands,  they  do  so  i7i  spite  of  Christianity ;  but  then 
they  existed  because  of  idolatry.  Lard  observes  that  the  Gen- 
tiles, starting  with  the  knowledge  of  God,  descended  to  the 
foolishness  of  idolatry.  At  this  point  God  abandoned  them, 
and  they  then  began  their  second  descent,  and  continued  till 
they  reached  the  very  base  and  bottom  of  moral  degradation, 
as  indicated  in  the  details  given  above.  The  Gentiles  had 
traditions  and  laws,  founded  on  original  revelations,  declaring 
these  things  sinful ;  and,  though  they  knew  that  death  resulted 
from  sin,  yet  they  not  only  defied  God  and  persisted  in  their 
sins,  but  even  failed  to  condemn  them  in  others;  yea,  they  en- 
couraged each  other  to  commit  them.  Such,  then,  was  the  help- 
less, hopeless  state  of  the  Gentiles.  When  they  were  justly 
condemned  to  death  for  unrighteousness,  God  revealed  in  his 
gospel  a  righteousness  unto  life  that  they  might  be  saved.] 

II. 

NEED  OF  RIGHTEOUSNESS  BY  THE  JEWS. 

2:  1-29. 

1  Wherefore  thou  art  without  excuse,  O  man,  who- 
soever thou  art  that  judgest :  for  wherein  thou  judgest 
another,  thou  condemnest  thyself ;  for  thou  that  judg- 
est dost  practise  the  same  thing.  [The  apostle,  it  will  be 
remembered,  is  proving  the  universal  insufficiency  of  human 
righteousness,  that  he  may  show  the  universal  need  of  a  revealed 
righteousness.  Having  made  good  his  case  against  one  part  of 
the  human  race — the  Gentiles,  he  now  proceeds  to  a  like  proof 
against  the  other  part— the  Jews.  He  does  not  name  them  as 
Jews  at  the  start,  for  this  would  put  them  on  the  defensive,  and 
made  his  task  harder.     He  speaks  to  them  first  as  individuals, 


EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

without  any  reference  to  race,  for  the  Jew  idohzed  his  race, 
and  would  readily  admit  a  defect  in  himself  which  he  would 
have  denied  in  his  race.  But  Paul,  by  thus  convicting  each  of 
sin  in  his  own  conscience,  makes  them  all  unwittingly  concede 
sin  in  all,  even  though  Jews.  It  was  the  well-known  charac- 
teristic of  the  Jews  to  indulge  in  pharisaical  judgment  and 
condemnation  of  others  (Matt.  7:  i  ;  Luke  18:  14),  especially 
the  Gentiles  (Acts  11:3;  Gal.  2:15).  The  apostle  knew, 
therefore,  that  his  Jewish  readers  would  be  listening  with  gloat- 
ing elation  to  this  his  castigation  of  the  Gentiles,  and  so,  even 
in  this  their  moment  of  supreme  self-complacency,  he  turns  his 
lash  upon  them,  boldly  accusing  them  of  having  committed 
some  of  the  things  which  they  condemned,  and,  hence,  of  being 
in  the  same  general  state  of  unrighteousness,  though,  perhaps, 
on  a  somewhat  less  degraded  plane.  To  condemn  another  for 
his  sin  is  to  admit  that  the  sin  in  question  leads  to  and  justifies 
condemnation  as  to  all  who  commit  it,  even  including  self. 
The  thought  of  this  verse  is,  as  indicated  by  its  opening 
"Wherefore,"  closely  connected  with  the  preceding  chapter, 
and  seems  to  form  a  climax,  thus:  The  simple  sinner  is  bad, 
the  encourager  of  sin  in  others  is  worse,  but  the  one  who  con- 
demns sins  in  others,  yet  commits  them  himself,  is  absolutely 
defenseless  and  without  excuse.  Whitby  has  collected  from 
Josephus  the  passages  which  show  that  Paul's  arraignment  of 
the  Jews  is  amply  justifiable.]  2  And  we  know  that  the 
judgment  of  God  is  according  to  truth  against  them 
that  practise  such  things.  3  And  reckonest  thou 
this,  O  man,  who  judgest  them  that  practise  s-  :\\ 
things,  and  doest  the  same,  that  thou  shalt  escape  the 
judgment  of  God?  [The  argument  may  be  paraphrased 
thus  :  Yielding  to  the  force  of  argument,  that  like  sin  deserves 
like  condemnation,  even  you,  though  most  unwillingly,  con- 
demn yourself.  How  much  more  freely,  therefore,  will  God 
condemn  you  (i  John  3:  2o\  And  we  know  that  you  can  not 
escape,  for  the  judgment  of  God  is  according  to  truth;  i.  e., 
without  error  or  partiality  against  the  doers  of  evil.  And  do 
you  vainly  imagine,  O  man,  that  when  thine  own  moral  sense 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  BY    THE  JEWS  309 

is  so  outraged  at  evil  that  thou  must  needs  condemn  others  for 
doing  it,  that  thou,  though  doing  the  same  evil  thyself,  shalt  es- 
cape the  judgment  of  God  through  any  partiality  on  his  part  ? 
Self-love,  self-pity,  self-justification,  and  kindred  feeling,  have, 
in  all  ages,  caused  men  to  err  in  applying  the  warnings  of  God 
to  themselves.  Among  the  Jews  this  error  took  the  form  of  a 
doctrine.  Finding  themselves  especially  favored  and  privileged 
as  children  of  Abraham,  they  expected  to  be  judged  upon  dif- 
ferent principles  from  those  of  truth,  which  would  govern  the 
judgment  and  condemnation  of  the  rest  of  mankind.  This  false 
trust  is  briefly  announced  and  rebuked  by  John  the  Baptist 
(Matt.  3:  7-9),  and  afterwards  more  clearly  and  fully  defined  in 
the  Talmud  in  such  expressions  as  these  :  "  Every  one  circum- 
cised has  part  in  the  kingdom  to  come."  "All  Israelites  will 
have  part  in  the  world  to  come."  "Abraham  sits  beside  the 
gates  of  hell,  and  does  not  permit  any  wicked  Israelite  to  go 
down  to  hell."  The  same  error  exists  to-day  in  a  modified 
form.  Many  expect  to  be  saved  because  they  are  the  children 
of  wealth,  culture,  refinement;  because  they  belong  to  a  civil- 
ized people  ;  because  their  parents  are  godly  ;  or  even,  in  some 
cases,  because  they  belong  to  a  certain  lodge,  or  order.]  4  Or 
despisest  thou  the  riches  of  his  goodness  and  for- 
bearance and  longsuffering,  not  knowing  that  the 
goodness  of  God  leadeth  thee  to  repentance  ?  5  but 
after  thy  hardness  and  impenitent  heart  treasurest  up 
for  thyself  wrath  in  the  day  of  wrath  and  revelation  of 
the  righteous  judgment  of  God ;  6  who  will  render  to 
every  man  according  to  his  works  [The  apostle  here 
touches  upon  a  second  error  which  is  still  common  among  men. 
It  is,  as  Cook  says,  that  "vague  and  undefined  hope  of  im- 
punity which  they  do  not  acknowledge  even  to  themselves." 
God's  present  economy,  which  sends  rain  upon  the  just  and  the 
unjust,  and  which  postpones  the  day  of  punishment  to  allow 
opportunity  for  repentance,  leads  untold  numbers  to  the  false 
conclusion  that  God  is  slack  as  to  his  judgment,  and  that  he 
will  ever  be  so.     They  mistake  for  indifference  or  weakness 

that  longsuffering  grace  of  his  which  exercises  patience,  hoping 
21 


310  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

that  he  may  thereby  lead  men  to  repentance  (2  Pet.  3:  9). 
Those  who,  by  hardness  of  heart,  steel  themselves  against  re- 
pentance, thereby  accumulate  punishments  which  will  be  in- 
flicted upon  them  in  the  day  when  God  reveals  that  righteous 
judgment  which  has  been  so  long  withheld  or  suspended,  for 
God  is  righteous,  and  he  will  render  to  every  man  in  that  day 
according  to  his  works,  after  the  following  described  manner]  : 
7  to  them  that  by  patience  in  well-doing  seek  for  glory 
and  honor  and  incorruption,  eternal  life :  8  but  unto 
them  that  are  factious,  and  obey  not  the  truth,  but  obey 
unrighteousness,  shall  he  wrath  and  indignation  [to 
those  who,  by  steadfastly  leading  a  life  of  work  (which,  as 
Olshausen  observes,  no  man  can  do,  according  to  Paul,  save  by 
faith  in  Christ),  seek  for  glory  (and  the  future  state  is  one  of 
unparalleled  grandeur— John  17:24;  Rev.  21:24),  honor  (and 
the  future  state  is  an  honor  ;  bestowed,  though  unmerited,  as 
a  reward — Matt.  25:  23,  40)  and  incorruption  (which  is  also  a 
prime  distinction  between  the  future  and  the  present  life — i  Cor. 
15:42),  eternal  life  shall  be  given.  But  God's  wrath  and  in- 
dignation shall  be  poured  upon  those  who  serve  party  and  not 
God  (and  the  Jews  were  continually  doing  this — Matt.  23:  15  ; 
Gal.  6:  12,  13),  and  obey  not  the  truth  (John  8:  31,  32),  but  obey 
unrighteousness],  9  tribulation  and  anguish,  upon  every 
soul  of  man  that  worketh  evil,  of  the  Jew  first,  and 
also  of  the  Greek  ;  10  but  glory  and  honor  and  peace  to 
every  man  that  worketh  good,  to  the  Jew  first,  and  also 
to  the  Greek:  11  for  there  is  no  respect  of  persons 
with  God.  [Paul  here  reiterates  the  two  phases  of  God's 
judgment  which  he  has  just  described.  He  does  this  to  em- 
phasize their  universality — that  they  are  upon  every  man,  re- 
gardless of  race.  The  punishment  shall  come  upon  Jew  and 
Gentile  alike ;  but  the  Jew,  because  of  pre-eminence  in  privi- 
lege, shall  have  pre-eminence  in  suffering  (Luke  12:47,  48). 
The  blessings  also  shall  be  received  alike,  but  here  also  the 
Jew,  having  improved  his  privileges,  and  having  more  pounds 
to  start  with  (Luke  19:  16-19),  shall  have  pre-eminence  in  re- 
ward in   as  far  as  he   has  attained  pre-eminence  in  life  ;   for 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  BY    THE  JEWS  311 

there  is  no  unfair  partiality  or  unjust  favoritism  with  God.  The 
man  born  in  a  Christian  home  stands  to-day  in  the  category 
then  occupied  by  the  Jew.  He  will  be  given  greater  reward 
or  greater  punishment  according  to  his  use  or  abuse  of  privi- 
lege.] 12  For  as  many  as  have  sinned  without  the  law 
[Gentiles]  shall  also  perish  without  the  law  [z.  e.,  with- 
out being  judged  by  the  expressed  terms  of  the  law]  :  and  as 
many  as  have  sinned  under  the  law  [the  Jews]  shall  be 
judged  by  the  law  [z.  e.,  his  conduct  shall  be  weighed  by 
the  terms  of  it,  and  his  punishment  shall  be  according  to  its 
directions.  Thus  the  Gentiles,  having  the  lesser  light  of  nature, 
and  the  Jews,  having  the  greater  light  of  revelation,  were  alike 
sinners.  By  his  altars,  sacrifices,  etc.,  the  Gentile  showed  that 
nature's  law  smote  his  conscience  as  truly  as  the  clear,  ex- 
pressed letter  of  the  Mosaic  precept  condemned  the  Jew.  Thus 
both  Jew  and  Gentile  were  condemned  to  perish;  z.  e.,  to  re- 
ceive the  opposite  of  salvation,  as  outlined  in  verse  7]  ;  13  for 
not  the  hearers  of  the  law  are  just  before  God,  but  the 
doers  of  the  law  shall  be  justified  [Of  course,  the  Jew 
had  a  great  advantage  over  the  Gentile  in  that  he  possessed  the 
law — Paul  himself  concedes  this  (3:  i,  2)  ;  but  this  mere  pos- 
session of  the  law,  and  this  privilege  of  hearing  and  knowing 
the  will  of  God,  by  no  means  justified  the  sinner.  Jews  and 
Gentiles  alike  had  to  seek  justification  through  perfect  obedience 
to  their  respective  laws,  and  no  one  of  either  class  had  ever 
been  able  to  render  such  obedience.  The  Jew  had  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  Gentile  in  that  he  had  a  clear  knowledge  of  the 
Lord's  will,  and  a  fair  warning  of  the  dire  consequences  of 
disobedience.  The  Gentile,  however,  had  advantages  which 
offset  those  of  the  Jews,  thus  making  the  judgments  of  God 
wholly  impartial.  If  the  law  which  directed  him  v^^as  less  clear, 
it  was  also  less  onerous.  In  a  parenthesis  the  apostle  now  sets 
forth  the  nature  of  the  law  under  which  the  Gentiles  lived ;  he 
evidently  does  this  that  he  may  meet  a  supposed  Jewish  objec- 
tion, as  though  some  one  said,  "  Since  what  you  say  applies  to 
those  who  have  a  divine  law  given  to  them,  it  can  not  apply  to 
the  Gentiles,  since  they  possess  no  law  at  all."     It  is  to  this 


312  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

anticipated  objection  that  Paul  replies]  ;  14  (for  when  Gen- 
tiles that  have  not  the  law  do  by  nature  the  things  of 
the  law,  these,  not  having  the  law,  are  the  law  unto 
themselves ;  15  in  that  they  show  the  work  of  the  law 
written  in  their  hearts,  their  conscience  bearing  wit- 
ness therewith,  and  their  thoughts  one  with  another 
accusing  or  else  excusing  them)  [The  meaning  here  may 
be  quickly  grasped  in  the  following  paraphrase :  Jews  and 
Gentiles  are  alike  sinners,  yet  each  had  a  chance  to  attain  legal 
justification ;  the  former  by  keeping  an  outwardly  revealed 
law,  the  latter  by  obeying  an  inwardly  revealed  one.  Now,  the 
Gentiles  have  such  a  law,  as  appears  from  their  general  moral 
conduct ;  for  when  those  who  do  not  have  the  law  of  Moses, 
do,  by  their  own  inward,  natural  promptings,  the  things  pre- 
scribed by  the  law  of  Moses,  they  are  a  law  unto  themselves, 
having  in  themselves  the  threefold  workings  of  law,  in  that  the 
guidance  of  their  heart  predisposes  them  to  know  the  right,  the 
testimony  of  their  conscience  bears  witness  with  their  heart 
that  the  right  is  preferable,  and  lastly,  after  the  deed  is  done, 
their  thoughts  or  inward  reasonings  accuse  or  excuse  them 
according  as  their  act  has  been  wrong  or  right.  These  well- 
known  psychological  phenomena,  observable  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, are  proof  conclusive  that  they  are  not  without  law,  with 
its  power  and  privilege  of  justification.  Therefore,  all  are  not 
sinners  because  there  is  respect  of  persons  with  God,  for  all 
have  the  possibility  of  attaining  justification]  ;  16  in  the  day 
w^hen  God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men,  according 
to  my  gospel,  by  Jesus  Christ.  [This  verse  relates  to  the 
thought  interrupted  by  the  parenthesis;  z.  e.,  the  thought  of 
verse  13.  Not  hearers,  but  doers,  shall  be  justified  in  the  judg- 
ment-day, that  day  when  God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men's 
lives  and  judge  them,  as  my  gospel  further  reveals,  through 
Jesus  Christ  as  Judge.  The  Jewish  Scriptures  revealed  a 
judgment-day,  and  the  thought  was  not  unfamiliar  to  the  Gen- 
tiles;  but  it  remained  for  Paul's  gospel  to  reveal  the  new  truth 
that  Jesus  was  to  be  the  Judge.  Paul  started  with  the  thought 
that,  in  judging  another,  a  sinner  condemned  himself  (v.  i:  3). 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  BY    THE  JEWS  313 

Having  discussed  that  thought  and  shown  that  it  is  appHcable 
to  the  Jew,  because  God's  judgments  rest  on  moral  and  not  on 
national  or  ceremonial  ground,  the  apostle  here  resumes  it  once 
more,  in  connection  with  verse  13,  that  he  may  show  that  if 
the  law  of  Moses  did  not  shield  from  condemnation,  neither 
would  circumcision.]  17  But  if  thou  bearest  the  name  of 
a  Jew,  and  restest  upon  the  la^v,  and  gloriest  in  God, 
18  and  knowest  his  will,  and  approvest  the  things  that 
are  excellent,  being  instructed  out  of  the  law,  19  and 
art  confident  that  thou  thyself  art  a  guide  of  the  blind, 
a  light  of  them  that  are  in  darkness,  20  a  corrector  of 
the  foolish,  a  teacher  of  babes,  having  in  the  law^  the 
form  of  knowledge  of  the  truth  ;  21  thou  therefore  that 
teacheth  another,  teachest  thou  not  thyself?  [But  if 
doers,  and  not  hearers,  are  not  justified,  why  do  you  put  your 
confidence  in  mere  hearing,  and  such  things  as  are  analogous 
to  it  ?  Since  only  the  doers  of  the  law  are  justified,  why  do  you 
vainly  trust  that  you  will  be  acceptable  because  you  bear  the 
proud  name  of  Jew  (Gal.  2:  15  ;  Phil.  3:  5  ;  Rev.  2:9),  rather 
than  the  humble  one  of  Gentile  ?  Why  do  you  rest  confidently 
merely  because  you  possess  a  better  law  than  the  Gentiles,  be- 
cause you  glory  in  the  worship  of  the  true  God  (Deut.  4:  7), 
and  in  knowing  his  will  (Ps.  147:  19,  20),  and  in  being  instructed 
so  as  to  approve  the  more  excellent  things  of  the  Jewish  religion 
above  the  debauchery  of  idolatry  ?  Of  what  avail  are  these 
things  when  God  demands  doi?ig  and  not  mere  knowing  ?  And 
of  what  profit  is  it  to  you  if  the  law  does  give  you  such  a  cor- 
rect knowledge  of  the  truth  that  you  are  to  the  Gentiles,  yea, 
even  to  their  chief  philosophers,  as  a  guide  to  the  blind,  a  light 
to  the  benighted,  a  wise  man  among  fools,  a  skilled  teacher 
among  children?  Of  what /avail  or  profit  is  it  all  if,  with  all 
this  ability,  you  teach  only  others  and  fail  to  teach  yourself  ? 
The  apostle  next  shows,  in  detail,  how  truly  the  Jew  had  failed 
to  profit  by  his  knowledge,  so  as  to  become  a  doer  of  the  law.] 
thou  that  preachest  a  man  should  not  steal,  dost  thou 
steal  ?  22  thou  that  sayest  a  man  should  not  commit 
adultery,  dost  thou  commit  adultery?  thou  that  ab- 


314  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

horrest  idols,  dost  thou  rob  temples?  23  thou  who 
gloriest  in  the  law,  through  thy  transgression  of  the 
law  dishonorest  thou  God  ?  [These  questions  bring  out  the 
flagrant  inconsistencies  between  Jewish  preaching  and  prac- 
tice. Teaching  others  not  to  steal,  the  Jew,  though  probably 
not  often  guilty  of  technical  theft,  was  continually  practically 
guilty  of  it  in  his  business  dealings,  wherein,  by  the  use  of  false 
weights,  extortion,  cheating,  etc.,  he  gathered  money  for  which 
he  had  returned  no  just  equivalent.  Unchastity  was  also  a  be- 
setting sin  of  the  Jews,  showing  itself  in  the  corrupt  practice 
of  permitting  divorces  without  reasonable  or  righteous  cause 
(Matt.  19:  8,  9).  Some  of  the  most  celebrated  Rabbis  are,  in 
the  Talmud,  charged  with  adultery.  Paul's  accusation,  that 
the  Jews  robbed  temples,  has  been  a  puzzle  to  many.  This 
robbing  of  the  temple,  according  to  the  context  of  his  argu- 
ment, must  have  been  a  species  of  idolatry,  for  he  is  charging 
the  Jews  with  doing  the  very  things  which  they  condemned. 
They  condemned  stealing,  and  stole  ;  they  denounced  adultery, 
and  committed  it ;  they  abhorred  idols,  yet  robbed  the  temples 
of  them  that  they  might  worship  them.  Such  is  the  clear 
meaning,  according  to  the  context.  But  we  have  no  evidence 
that  the  Jews  of  Paul's  day  did  such  a  thing.  The  charge  is 
doubtless  historic.  The  Jewish  history,  in  which  they  gloried, 
showed  that  the  fathers,  in  whom  they  had  taken  so  much 
pride,  had  done  this  thing  over  and  over  again,  and  the  same 
spirit  was  in  their  children,  though  more  covertly  concealed 
(comp.  Matt.  23:  29-32).  The  last  question  sums  up  the  Jewish 
misconduct:  glorying  in  the  law,  as  is  shown  in  verses  17-20, 
they  yet  dishonored  the  God  of  the  law  by  transgressing  it,  as  is 
shown  in  this  paragraph.]  24  For  the  name  of  God  is  blas- 
phemed among  the  Gentiles  because  of  you,  even  as  it 
is  written.  (Isa.  52:  5  ;  Ezek.  36:  20-23,)  By  their  conduct 
the  Jews  had  fulfilled  the  words  of  Isaiah  and  the  meaning  of 
Ezekiel.  The  Gentiles,  judging  by  the  principle  that  a  god 
may  be  known  by  his  worshipers,  had,  by  reason  of  the  Jews, 
judged  Jehovah  to  be  of  such  a  character  that  their  judgment 
became  a  blasphemy.    (See  also  Ezek.  16:  5I-59-)    Thus  Paul 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  BY    THE  JEWS  315 

took  from  the  Jew  a  confidence  of  divine  favor,  which  he  had 
because  he  possessed  the  law.  But  the  law  was  not  the  sole 
confidence  of  the  Jew,  for  he  had  circumcision  also,  and  he 
regarded  this  rite  as  a  seal  or  conclusive  evidence  that  he  be- 
longed to  the  people  of  God,  being  thereby  separated  by  an 
infinite  distance  from  all  other  people.  He  looked  with  scorn 
and  contempt  on  the  uncircumcised,  even  using  the  term  as  an 
odious  epithet  (Gen.  34:  14  ;  Ex.  12:  48  ;  i  Sam.  17:  26  ;  2  Sam. 
i:  20;  Isa.  52:  I :  Ezek.  28:  10.)  The  apostle,  therefore,  turns 
his  fire  so  as  to  dislodge  the  Jew  from  this  deceptive  stronghold. 
He  drives  him  from  his  hope  and  trust  in  circumcision.]  25 
For  circumcision  indeed  profiteth,  if  thou  be  a  doer  of 
the  law  :  but  if  thou  be  a  transgressor  of  the  law,  thy 
circumcision  is  become  uncircumcision.  26  If  there- 
fore the  uncircumcision  keep  the  ordinances  of  the 
law,  shall  not  his  uncircumcision  be  reckoned  for  cir- 
cumcision ?  [In  verse  25  the  apostle  takes  up  the  case  of  the 
Jew ;  in  verse  26  that  of  the  Gentile.  By  circumcision  the  former 
entered  into  a  covenant  with  God,  and  part  of  the  terms  of  his 
covenant  was  an  agreement  to  obey  the  law.  Thus  the  law 
was  superior  to  circumcision,  so  much  so  that  it,  as  it  were, 
disfranchised  or  expatriated  an  Israelite  for  disobedience,  de- 
spite his  circumcision.  On  the  contrary,  if  an  uncircumcised 
Gentile  obeyed  the  law,  then  the  law  naturalized  and  received 
him  into  the  spiritual  theocracy,  notwithstanding  his  lack  of 
circumcision.  The  verses  are  not  an  argument,  but  a  plain 
statement  of  the  great  truth  that  circumcision,  though  bene- 
ficial to  the  law-abiding,  has  no  power  to  withstand  the  law 
when  condemning  the  lawless.  In  short,  the  Jew  and  Gentile 
stood  on  equal  footing,  for,  though  the  Jew  had  a  better  cove- 
nant (circumcision)  and  a  better  law,  yet  neither  attained  to 
salvation,  for  neither  kept  the  law.]  27  and  shall  not  the 
uncircumcision  which  is  by  nature,  if  it  fulfil  the 
law,  judge  thee,  who  with  the  letter  and  circumcision 
art  a  transgressor  of  the  law?  [The  Gentile,  remaining 
as  he  was  by  nature,  uncircumcised,  if  he  fulfilled  the  law,  shall, 
in  his  turn,  judge  the  Jew,  who  was  so  ready  to  judge  him 


316  EPISTLE   TO    THE  ROMANS 

(v.  i),  who,  with  a  written  law  and  circumcision,  was  yet  a 
transgressor.  The  judging  referred  to  is  probably  the  indirect 
judging  of  comparison.  On  the  day  of  judgment,  the  Gentile, 
with  his  poor  advantages,  will  condemn,  by  his  superior  con- 
duct, the  lawlessness  of  the  Jew.  Comp.  Matt.  11:21,  22; 
Luke  11:31,  32.]  28  For  he  is  not  a  Jew  who  is  one 
outwardly ;  neither  is  that  circumcision  which  is  out- 
ward in  the  flesh :  29  but  he  is  a  Jew  who  is  one  in- 
wardly ;  and  circumcision  is  that  of  the  heart,  in  the 
spirit  not  in  the  letter ;  w^hose  praise  is  not  of  men,  but 
of  God.  [He  is  not  a  Jew  in  God's  sight  (though  he  is,  of 
course,  such  in  the  sight  of  the  world)  who  is  simply  one  with- 
out; z.  e.,  by  being  properly  born  of  Jewish  parents,  nor  is  that 
a  circumcision  in  God's  sight  (though  it  is  in  the  sight  of  the 
world)  which  is  merely  fieshly.  But  he  is  the  real,  divinely 
accepted  Jew  who  is  one  within;  i.  e.,  who  has  in  him  the 
spirit  of  Abraham  and  the  fathers  in  whom  God  delighted 
(John  i:  47).  His  life  may  be  hid  from  men,  so  that  they  may 
see  nothing  in  him  to  praise,  but  it  is  praiseworthy  in  the  sight 
of  God,  and  circumcision  is  not  that  outward  compliance  with 
the  letter  of  the  law — literal  circumcision — but  that  inward 
spiritual  compliance  with  the  true  meaning  of  circumcision,  the 
cutting  off  of  all  things  that  are  impure  and  unholy,  and  that 
make  the  heart  unworthy  of  an  acceptance  into  the  household 
of  God.] 

III. 

JEWISH  PRIVILEGE  DOES  NOT  DIMINISH  GUILT, 

AND    THE    SCRIPTURES    INCLUDE    BOTH 

JEW  AND  GENTILE  ALIKE  UNDER  SIN. 

3:  1-20. 

1  What  advantage  then  hath  the  Jew?  or  what  is 
the  profit  of  circumcision  ?  [Paul's  argument  was  well  cal- 
culated to  astonish  the  Jews.  If  some  notable  Christian  should 
argue  conclusively  that  the  Christian  and  the  infidel  stood  on 
an  equal  footing  before  God,  his  argument  would  not  be  more 


JEWISH  PRIVILEGE  317 

startling  to  the  church  than  was  that  of  Paul  to  the  Jews  of 
his  day.  They  naturally  asked  the  two  questions  found  in  this 
first  verse,  so  Paul  places  the  questions  before  his  readers  that 
he  may  answer  them.]  2  Much  every  way:  first  of  all, 
that  they  were  entrusted  with  the  oracles  of  God.  [To 
the  circumcised  Jew  God  had  given  the  Scriptures.  The  law, 
the  Psalms,  the  prophets  were  his,  with  all  the  revelations  and 
promises  therein  contained.  They  revealed  man's  origin,  his 
fall  and  his  promised  redemption;  they  also  described  the  Re- 
deemer who  should  come,  and  prepared  men  to  receive  him  and 
to  believe  him.  How  unspeakable  the  advantage  of  the  Jew 
in  possessing  such  a  record.  But  the  Jew  had  not  improved 
this  advantage,  and  so  we  may  regard  him  as  asking  the  apostle 
this  further  question,  ''But,  after  all,  the  greatest  part  of  us 
have  not  believed  on  this  Jesus,  and  so  what  advantage  were 
our  oracles  to  us  in  reality?  "  The  apostle  now  answers  this 
objection.]  3  For  what  if  some  were  without  faith? 
shall  their  want  of  faith  make  of  none  effect  the  faith- 
fulness of  God  ?  4  God  forbid :  yea,  let  God  be  found 
true,  but  every  man  a  liar  ;  as  it  is  written  [Ps.  51:4], 
That  thou  mightest  be  justified  in  thy  words,  And 
mightest  prevail  vvrhen  thou  comest  into  judgment. 
[True,  the  Jew,  by  unbelief,  had  failed  to  improve  his  advan- 
tage in  possessing  the  Scriptures  ;  but  that  did  not  alter  the  fact 
that  he  had  had  the  advantage.  He  had  failed,  but  God  had 
not  failed.  Had  the  unbelief  of  the  Jew  caused  God  to  break 
his  promises,  then  indeed  might  the  advantage  of  the  Jew  have 
been  questioned,  for  in  that  case  it  would  have  proven  a  vanish- 
ing quantity.  But,  on  the  contrary,  God  had  kept  faith,  and 
so  the  advantage,  though  unimproved,  had  been  an  abiding 
quantity.  And  this  accords  with  the  holiness  and  sinlessness 
of  God.  He  is  ever  blameless,  and  because  he  is  so,  he  must 
ever  be  assumed  to  be  so,  even  though  such  an  assumption 
should  involve  the  presumption  that  all  men  are  false  and  un- 
true, as,  indeed,  they  are  in  comparison  with  him  :  for  David 
testified  to  the  incomparable  righteousness  of  God,  that  it  was 
a  righteousness  which  acquitted  God  of  all  unfaithfulness  to  his 


318  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

words,  and  which  causes  him  to  prevail  whenever  men  call 
him  to  account  or  pass  judgment  upon  him.]  5  But  if  our 
unrighteousness  commendeth  the  righteousness  of 
God,  what  shall  we  say?  Is  God  unrighteous  who 
visiteth  with  wrath  ?  (I  speak  after  the  manner  of 
men.)  [I  am  not  expressing  my  own  views,  but  those  of  the 
man  who  objects  to  the  truth  I  am  presenting.]  6  God  for- 
bid :  for  then  how  shall  God  judge  the  world  ?  7  But 
if  the  truth  of  God  through  my  lie  abounded  unto  his 
glory,  why  am  I  also  still  judged  as  a  sinner?  8  and 
why  not  (as  we  are  slanderously  reported,  and  as  some 
affirm  that  we  say).  Let  us  do  evil,  that  good  may 
come?  whose  condemnation  is  just.  [But  some  of  you 
Jews,  objecting  to  my  argument,  will  say,  "According  to  your 
statements,  the  unbelief  and  disobedience  of  us  Jews,  with 
reference  to  God's  Scripture,  drew  out,  displayed  and  magnified 
the  faithfulness  and  goodness  of  God  in  fulfilling  his  Scripture. 
Therefore,  since  our  unbelief,  etc.,  added  to  the  glory  of  God 
by  commending  his  righteousness,  is  not  God  unjust  to  punish 
us  for  that  unbelief,  etc.,  since  it  works  such  praiseworthy 
results?"  My  answer  is,  God  forbid  that  sin  should  become 
righteousness,  for  if  sin  ceases  to  be  sinful,  how  shall  God  judge 
the  world,  since  then  there  shall  be  no  sin  to  be  condemned 
or  punished  ?  You  see,  then,  the  absurdity  of  your  question, 
since  it  is  a  practical  denial  of  the  divinely  established  fact 
that  there  is  to  be  a  day  of  judgment.  Sin,  though  it  may,  by 
its  contrast,  display  the  righteousness  of  God,  is  nevertheless 
utterly  without  merit.  As  an  illustration,  my  case  is  analogous 
to  yours.  You  arraign  me  before  the  bar  of  Jewish  opinion, 
even  as  you  yourselves  are  arraigned  before  the  bar  of  God  ; 
yet  you  would  not  permit  me  to  use  before  you  the  very  same 
argument  which  you  are  seeking  to  use  before  God.  You  Jews 
regard  me  as  a  sinner,  and  charge  me  with  being  untrue  to 
the  Jewish  religion,  and  with  being  a  false  representative  of  it, 
in  that  I  declare  it  to  be  fulfilled  in  the  gospel.  Now,  my  lie  (as 
you  consider  it),  in  this  respect,  redounds  to  the  glory  of  God 
by  being  a  contrast  to  his  truthfulness.     But  would  you  Jews 


JEWISH  PRIVILEGE  319 

acqurt  me  of  the  sin  of  heresy  if  I  should  make  use  of  this  your 
argument?  And,  again,  if  your  reasoning  is  correct,  why 
should  I  not,  as  certain,  meaning  to  slander  me,  report  that  I 
do,  and  affirm  that  I  say.  Let  us  do  evil  that  good  may  come  ? 
But  those  who  avow  such  principles  are  justly  condemned. 
Thus  Paul  showed  that,  in  condemning  him  (though  falsely), 
they  condemn  the  very  argument  which  they  were  seeking  to 
affirm  in  verse  5.]  9  What  then  ?  are  we  [Jews]  better  than 
they  ?  [The  Gentiles.]  No,  in  no  wise  :  for  we  before  laid 
to  the  charge  both  of  Jews  and  Greeks,  that  they  are  all 
under  sin  [Having  met  the  effort  of  the  Jew  to  make  an  excep- 
tion in  his  case,  as  set  forth  in  verse  5,  the  apostle  now  reaffirms 
his  original  charge  of  universal  unrighteousness,  in  which  both 
Jews  and  Greeks  were  involved.  This  charge  he  further 
proves  by  an  elaborate  chain  of  quotations,  taken  from  the  Old 
Testament,  and  chiefly  from  the  Psalms]  ;  10  as  it  is  written, 
There  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one;  11  There  is 
none  that  understandeth.  There  is  none  that  seeketh 
after  God ;  12  They  have  all  turned  aside,  they  are  to- 
gether become  unprofitable ;  There  is  none  that  doeth 
good,  no,  not  so  much  as  one  [Ps.  14:  1-3  ;  53:  1-3]  :  13 
Their  throat  is  an  open  sepulchre  ;  With  their  tongues 
they  have  used  deceit  [Ps.  5:  9]  :  The  poison  of  asps  is 
under  their  lips  [140:  3] :  14  Whose  mouth  is  full  of 
cursing  and  bitterness  [Ps.  10:  7] :  15  Their  feet  are 
swift  to  shed  blood  ;  16  Destruction  and  misery  are  in 
their  ways ;  17  And  the  way  of  peace  have  they  not 
known  [Isa.  59:  7,  8] :  18  There  is  no  fear  of  God  before 
their  eyes.  [Ps.  36:  i.  The  above  quotations  are  placed  in 
logical  order.  "  The  arrangement  is  such,"  says  Meyer,  "  that 
testimony  is  adduced :  first,  for  the  state  of  sin  generally  (vs. 
10-12);  second,  the  practice  of  sin  in  word  (vs.  13,  14)  and 
deed  (vs.  13-17);  and  third,  the  sinful  source  Q>i  the  whole — 
V.  18."]  19  Now  we  know  that  what  things  soever 
the  law  saith,  it  speaketh  to  them  that  are  under  the 
law^  [z.  e.,  to  the  Jews]  ;  that  every  mouth  may  be  stopped, 
and  all  the  world  may  be  brought  under  the  judgment 


320  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

of  God :  20  because  by  the  works  of  the  law  shall  no 
flesh  be  justified  in  his  sight;  for  through  the  law 
Cometh  the  knowledge  of  sin.  [Having,  by  his  quotations 
from  the  Old  Testament,  shown  that  the  Jew  was  sinful,  the 
apostle  sets  forth  the  result  of  this  sin.  Does  the  law  provide 
any  remedy  ?  Is  the  Jew  right  in  hoping  that  it  shall  afford 
him  immunity  from  his  guilt  ?  These  questions  have  been  for 
some  time  before  the  apostle,  and  they  now  come  up  for  final 
answer.  We,  says  he,  universally  accept  the  truth  that  when 
the  law  speaks,  it  speaks  to  those  who  are  under  it.  If,  there- 
fore, it  has  no  voice  save  condemnation — and  it  has  no  other — 
and  if  that  voice  is  addressed  particularly  to  the  Jew — and  it 
is — his  state  is  no  better  than  that  of  the  Gentile  ;  he  is  con- 
demned ;  and  the  law  thus  speaks  for  this  very  purpose  of 
silencing  the  vain,  unwarranted  confidence  of  the  Jew,  that  he 
may  see  himself  in  the  same  condition  as  the  Geniile,  and 
brought,  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  under  the  condemnation 
of  God ;  and  there  can  be  no  legal  escape  from  this  condemna- 
tion, because,  by  the  works  of  the  law,  it  is  impossible  for 
humanity,  in  its  frailty,  to  justify  itself  in  God's  sight — nay,  the 
law  works  a  directly  contrary  result,  for  through  it  comes  the 
knowledge  and  sense  of  sin,  and  not  the  sense  of  pardon  or 
justification.] 

Subdivision   C. 

THE  UNIVERSAL  NEED  OF  RIGHTEOUSNESS 
SATISFIED  BY  THE  GOSPEL  PROCLAMA- 
TION OF  RIGHTEOUSNESS   BY  FAITH. 

3:  21-4:  25. 
I. 

NEITHER  JEW  NOR  GREEK  CAN  OBTAIN  RIGHT- 
EOUSNESS OTHERWISE  THAN  BY 
THE  GOSPEL. 

3:21-31. 

21  But  now  apart  from  the  law  a  righteousness  of 
God  hath  been   manifested,  being   witnessed  by  the 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  BY    THE    GOSPEL        321 

law  and  the  prophets  [Having  shut  up  all  under  condem- 
nation for  sin  under  the  law  with  its  works,  Paul  turns  now  to 
point  all  to  freedom  and  justification  under  the  gospel  with 
its  grace.  This  section  of  the  Epistle  is,  therefore,  as  Bengel 
observes,  "the  opening  of  a  brighter  scene."  There  was  no 
justification  under  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  says  the  apostle  ; 
but  now,  under  the  dispensation  of  Christ  (v.  26;  ch.  16:  26),  a 
righteousness  apart  from  or  independent  of  the  law,  having 
God  as  its  author,  and  proceeding  from  God,  and  long  hid  in 
the  councils  of  God,  has  been  at  last  manifested  (ch.  16:  25,  26; 
I  Tim.  3:  16).  Having  thus  distinctly  announced  this  new  jus- 
tification, Paul  proceeds  to  give  details,  the  first  of  which  is  a 
statement  that  it  did  not  come  unannounced  or  unheralded,  for 
in  their  types,  promises  and  prophecies  (Gen.  15:  6  ;  Hab.  2:  4) 
both  the  law  and  the  prophets  foretold  that  this  righteousness 
would  be  revealed] ;  22  even  the  righteousness  of  God 
through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  unto  all  them  that  be- 
lieve ;  for  there  is  no  distinction ;  23  for  all  have 
sinned,  and  fall  short  of  the  glory  of  God ;  24  being 
justified  freely  by  his  grace  through  the  redemption 
that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  [The  apostle  adds  four  additional 
details,  viz.:  i.  This  justification  is  conditional,  being  obtained 
through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  2.  It  is  bestowed  upon  Jew  and 
Gentile  without  distinction,  for  both  classes,  having  failed  to 
attain  that  perfection  of  righteousness  and  character  which  is 
the  glory  of  God,  are  equally  condemned  without  it.  3.  It  is 
a  free  gift,  bestowed  by  God's  grace  or  favor.  4.  It  was  ob- 
tained as  a  redemption  by  the  giving  of  Jesus  Christ  as  a  ransom 
(i  Cor.  6:  30).  The  last  detail  is  further  elaborated  in  what 
follows]  :  25  whom  God  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation, 
through  faith,  in  his  blood,  to  show  his  righteousness 
because  of  the  passing  over  of  the  sins  done  afore- 
time, in  the  forbearance  of  God  ;  26  for  the  show^ing, 
/  say^  of  his  righteousness  at  this  present  season  :  that 
he  might  himself  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that 
hath  faith  in  Jesus.  [God  set  forth  (or  exhibited  in  his 
blood  on  the  cross)  Jesus  Christ  to  be  a  propitiatory  sacrifice 


322  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

(z.  e.,  a  sacrifice  which  would  justify  God  in  pardoning  sinners) 
for  the  benefit  of  those  who,  through  faith  in  him,  would  pre- 
sent him  to  God  as  such.  And  God  thus  set  him  forth  as  a 
bloody  sacrifice,  that  he  might  in  him,  show  his  righteousness 
{.i.  e.,  his  retributive  justice,  his  hatred  of  sin,  and  firmness  in 
punishing  it),  for  this  retributive  justice  of  God  had  for  a  long 
time  been  obscured  by  his  conduct  towards  sinners,  for  he  had 
passed  over,  or  left  only  partially  punished,  the  sins  done  afore- 
time {i.  e.,  all  sins  committed  before  Christ's  death),  for  he 
had  neither  fully  forgiven  nor  fully  punished  them,  but  had 
passed  them  over,  reserving  the  full  punishment  of  them  to 
inflict  it  upon  Jesus  when  suffering  upon  the  cross  (Isa.  53:  4-6)  ; 
that  full  forgiveness  also  might  flow  from  the  cross  (John  i: 
29;  I  John  i:  7;  Rev.  1:5;  7:  14),  God  forbearing  to  punish 
man  because  he  anticipated  this  method  of  pardoning  him. 
Thus  God  explained,  or  made  clear,  his  former  conduct,  by 
setting  forth,  in  these  days,  his  crucified  Son  as  a  propitiatory 
sacrifice,  that  he  might  show  himself,  not  just  in  condemning, 
but  just  and  yet  the  justifier  of  him  that  hath  faith  in  Jesus. 
Thus  Paul  makes  it  apparent  that  the  sacrifices  of  the  Old 
Testament  were  types,  and  because  of  them  God  showed  for- 
bearance, looking  forward  to  Christ,  the  real  propitiatory  sacri- 
fice, in  whose  sufferings  on  the  cross  God  punished  sin,  that 
he  might  show  mercy  and  grant  pardon  to  the  sinner.  The 
propitiatory  sacrifice  of  Christ  could  only  take  place  with  his 
free  and  full  consent,  for  it  would  have  else  been  unjust  to 
punish  one  being  for  the  sin  of  another.]  27  Where  then  is 
the  glorying?  [2:  17,  23.]  It  is  excluded.  By  what 
manner  of  law  ?  of  works  ?  Nay :  but  by  a  law  of 
faith.  [In  all  that  portion  of  this  Epistle  embraced  between 
2:  17-3:  20,  Paul  has  been  demolishing  the  boastful  spirit  of  the 
Jew.  As  he  ends  his  successful  argument,  he  pauses  now  to 
ask,  triumphantly.  What  is  left  of  this  boasting?  If  a  man  is 
saved  not  as  a  righteous  person,  but  as  a  pardoned  criminal, 
where  is  there  room  for  boastfulness  ?  There  is  none  at  all ; 
it  is  excluded.  But  by  what  law  or  principle  is  it  excluded  ? 
by  that  of  works  ?     No  ;  for  such  a  law  tends  to  foster  it ;   but 


RIGHTEOUSNESS  BY    THE    GOSPEL        323 

by  the  law  or  principle  of  faith.  The  law  of  works,  which  says, 
"Do  this  if  thou  wouldst  live,"  tended  to  develop  a  spirit  of 
self-righteousness;  but  the  law  of  faith,  which  says,  "Believe 
on  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,"  silences  all  boast- 
ing.] 28  We  reckon  therefore  that  a  man  is  justified 
by  faith  apart  from  the  works  of  the  law.  29  Or  is 
God  the  God  of  Jews  only  ?  is  he  not  the  God  of  Gen- 
tiles also  ?  Yea,  of  Gentiles  also  :  30  if  so  be  that  God 
is  one,  and  he  shall  justify  the  circumcision  by  faith, 
and  the  uncircumcision  through  faith.  [Therefore,  as 
the  conclusion  of  the  whole  argument,  we  reckon  that  every 
man,  be  he  Jew  or  Gentile,  is  justified  by  faith  apart  from  the 
works  of  the  law.  If  only  those  who  kept  the  law  of  Moses 
could  be  justified,  then  only  could  Jews  be  justified,  for  they 
alone  possessed  this  law,  and  it  is  addressed  only  to  them.  But 
this  state  of  affairs  would  belie  the  character  of  God.  Does 
he  not  create,  feed  and  govern  the  Gentiles?  and  is  he  not 
then  the  God  of  the  Gentiles  ?  Or  are  there  two  Gods  :  one 
for  the  Jew  and  one  for  the  Gentile  ?  The  question  is  absurd ; 
there  is  but  one  God,  and  he  is  God  both  of  the  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles, and  as  each  race  is  alike  wholly  dependent  upon  him,  he 
must  deal  impartially  by  each ;  and  this  he  does,  for  he  saves 
both  Jew  and  Gentile  in  the  same  manner;  i.  e.,  by  faith.  It 
may  be  well  to  note,  in  this  connection,  that  Luther  added  the 
word  "alone"  to  this  verse,  thus:  "We  reckon,  therefore, 
that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  alojie."  In  combating  the  error 
of  Rome  (that  men  are  justified  by  works),  Luther  fell  into 
another  error,  for  repentance  is  as  much  a  means  of  justifica- 
tion as  faith,  and  there  is  no  mei'it  in  either  of  them.  The 
meritorious  cause  of  our  justification  is  the  atoning  blood  of 
Christ,  and  by  faith,  repentance,  baptism,  etc.,  we  appropriate 
the  blood  of  Christ.  These  acts,  on  our  part,  do  not  make  us 
worthy  of  justification,  but  they  are  the  conditions  fixed  by 
Christ,  on  compliance  with  which  he  invests  us  with  the  bene- 
fits of  his  blood;  z.  e.,  justifies  us.]  31  Do  we  then  make 
the  law^  of  none  effect  through  faith  ?  God  forbid :  nay, 
we  establish  the  law.     [Does  the  conclusion,  proved  by  my 


324  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

argument,  make  the  law  of  none  effect?  God  forbid:  on  the 
contrary,  it  establishes  the  law  by  clearing  it  of  misunder- 
standing. It  was  given  to  show  that  no  man  could  attain  salva- 
tion by  self-righteousness,  and  we  establish  it  by  showing  that 
it  accomplished  the  end  for  which  it  was  framed.  We  have 
shown  that  it  was  of  no  service  to  justify  men ;  but  of  great 
service  to  convict  them  of  sin,  and  thus  lead  them  to  Christ  for 
justification.] 

II. 

THE   GOSPEL   METHOD    OF    JUSTIFICATION,  EX- 
EMPLIFIED  IN   THE    CASES    OF   ABRAHAM 
AND  DAVID,  MUST  BE  APPLIED  BOTH 
TO  THE  LITERAL  AND  SPIRITUAL 
SEED  OF  ABRAHAM. 

4:  1-25 

1  What  then  shall  we  say  that  Abraham,  our  fore- 
father, hath  found  according  to  the  flesh  ?  [The  word 
"  found  "  means  "  obtained  "  (Heb.  9:  12)  or  "  got "  (Luke  9: 
12).  Knowing  that  the  Jew  would  resist  and  controvert  his 
conclusion  that  the  Jew  would  have  to  be  justified  by  faith,  just 
as  the  Gentile,  Paul  further  confirms  his  conclusion  by  a  test 
case.  For  the  test  he  selects  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  race, 
and  the  earthly  head  of  the  theocracy.  No  more  fitting  indi- 
vidual could  be  chosen,  for  the  nation  had  never  claimed  that 
it  had  risen  higher  than  its  head ;  therefore,  whatever  could  be 
proved  as  to  Abraham  must  be  conceded  to  be  true  as  to  all. 
What,  says  Paul,  in  the  light  of  our  proposition,  shall  we  say 
that  Abraham,  our  forefather,  hath  obtained,  by  his  fleshly 
nature,  apart  from  the  grace  of  God;  i.  <?.,  as  a  doer  of  the  law 
(Gal.  3:  2,  3)  ?  Surely,  he  obtained  nothing  whatever  in  this 
manner.]  2  For  if  Abraham  was  justified  by  works,  he 
hath  whereof  to  glory;  but  not  toward  God.  3  For 
what  saith  the  scripture?  [Gen.  15:6]  And  Abraham 
believed  God,  and  it  was  reckoned  unto  him  for  right- 


GOSPEL   METHOD    OF  JUSTIFICATION     325 

eousness.  [Now,  of  course,  Abraham  was  some  way  justi- 
fied. If  he  was  justified  by  works,  as  you  Jews  suppose,  he  has 
ground  for  glorying  toward  God,  for  he  can  claim  his  justifica- 
tion from  God  as  a  debt  due  to  him;  but  we  hear  of  no  such 
glorying  toward  God,  and  hence  he  was  not  justified  by  works. 
On  the  contrary,  we  hear  that  he  was  justified  by  faith,  for  the 
Scripture  says  that  he  believed  God  and  his  belief  was  counted 
unto  him  for  righteousness.]  4  Now  to  him  that  worketh, 
the  revsrard  is  not  reckoned  as  of  grace,  but  as  of  debt. 
5  But  to  him  that  worketh  not,  but  believeth  on  him 
that  justifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  reckoned  for 
righteousness.  [Let  us  illustrate  our  point  by  the  case  of  a 
workman.  If  the  workman  does  all  he  agreed  to  do,  then  his 
reward  or  hire  is  due  him,  not  as  a  matter  of  grace  or  favor,  but 
as  a  just  debt.  But  if,  on  the  contrary,  the  workman  does  not 
fulfill  his  agreement  at  all,  but  merely  believes  the  promise  of 
his  employer  that  he  shall  nevertheless  be  paid,  then  the  hire  is 
not  hire  at  all ;  it  is  a  mere  gift  of  grace  and  favor,  and  not  a 
debt.  Now,  this  latter  is  the  position  occupied  by  Abraham, 
and  by  every  one  that  believeth  on  him  that  justifieth  the  un- 
godly, for  their  faith  is  reckoned  unto  them  for  the  works  of 
the  law — those  works  of  righteousness  which  they  promised  to 
do,  but  never  performed.  The  sentence  is  very  elliptical,  the 
apostle  mingling  the  illustration  with  its  application,  in  the  on- 
rushing  of  his  thought.]  6  Even  as  David  also  pronounceth 
blessing  upon  the  man,  unto  whom  God  reckoneth 
righteousness  apart  from  works,  7  saying  [Ps.  32:  i,  2], 
Blessed  are  they  w^hose  iniquities  are  forgiven,  And 
w^hose  sins  are  covered.  8  Blessed  is  the  man  to  w^hom 
the  Lord  will  not  reckon  sin.  [The  quotation  from  David 
does  not  show  a  positive  imputation  of  righteousness,  but  a 
negative  one — a  refusal  to  reckon  the  unrighteous.  *Tt  is 
implied,"  says  Alford,  **by  Paul,  that  the  remission  of  sin  is 
equivalent  to  the  imputation  of  righteousness,  that  there  is  no 
negative  state  of  innocence,  none  intermediate  between  ac- 
ceptance for  righteousness  and  rejection  for  sin."  This  ac- 
cords with  the  entire  trend  of  Scripture,  which  recognizes  but 
22 


326  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

two  great  classes :  those  who  shall  stand  upon  the  right,  and 
those  who  shall  pass  to  the  left  in  the  judgment.  Paul  has 
now  concluded  his  first  point  in  the  test  case  of  Abraham — he 
has  shown  that  he  was  justified  by  faith,  and  that  such  a  justi- 
fication was  recognized  by  David,  and  pronounced  blessed. 
He  now  takes  up  the  second  point,  and  shows  that  if  Abraham 
was  not  justified  by  the  doing  of  the  law,  neither  was  he  by 
the  rite  of  circumcision.  In  this  part  of  the  argument  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  God  declared  Abraham  justified 
by  faith  at  least  thirteen  years  before  Abraham  submitted  to 
the  rite  of  circumcision.  Moreover,  he  unites  Abraham  with 
all  the  uncircumcised,  and  tries  the  case  of  all  in  Abraham.] 

9  Is  this  blessing  then  pronounced  upon  the  circum- 
cision, or  upon  the  uncircumcision  also?  for  we  say, 
To  Abraham  his  faith  was  reckoned  for  righteousness. 

10  How  then  was  it  reckoned?  when  he  was  in  cir- 
cumcision, or  in  uncircumcision  ?  Not  in  circumcision, 
but  in  uncircumcision  [Do  the  words  of  David  apply  only 
to  the  Jews,  the  circumcised,  or  do  they  likewise  apply  also  to 
the  Gentiles,  the  uncircumcised?  Surely  they  apply  to  the 
uncircumcised,  for  they  describe  the  blessing  which  Abraham 
enjoyed  before  his  circumcision.  Of  what  use,  then,  was  cir- 
cumcision, and  why  did  Abraham  receive  it?]:  11  and  he 
received  the  sign  of  circumcision,  a  seal  of  the  right- 
eousness of  the  faith  which  he  had  while  he  was  in 
uncircumcision  :  that  he  might  be  the  father  of  all  them 
that  believe,  though  they  be  in  uncircumcision,  that 
righteousness  might  be  reckoned  unto  them ;  12  and 
the  father  of  circumcision  to  them  who  not  only  are 
of  the  circumcision,  but  who  also  walk  in  the  steps 
of  that  faith  of  our  father  Abraham  which  he  had  in 
uncircumcision.  [Now,  circumcision  was  not  given  to  Abra- 
ham to  justify  him,  but  as  a  seal,  or  token,  that  he  had  ob- 
tained righteousness  by  faith.  Moreover,  it  was  given  to  him 
that  he  might  become  the  father  of  all  believing  Gentiles,  God 
having  agreed  to  make  him  the  head  or  spiritual  father  of  all 
those  saved  by  Christ  on  condition  of  his  being  circumcised. 


GOSPEL   METHOD   OF  JUSTIFICATION     327 

and  Abraham  having  been  circumcised  "  order  to  obtain  this 
exalted  honor,  and  thirdly,  that  he  might  be  the  spiritual  father 
of  those  who  are  not  only  circumcised  like  him,  but  walk  in 
the  steps  of  that  faith  of  his  of  which  circumcision  was  the 
seal.  Thus  circumcision  was  the  seal  that  God  had  made 
Abraham  the  father  of  all  who  believe  in  God,  and  are  justified 
by  their  belief,  whether  they  belong  to  the  Jews,  who,  in  the 
earlier  ages,  had  the  better  opportunity  to  believe,  or  to  the 
Gentiles,  who  had  that  better  opportunity  in  these  latter  ages.] 
13  For  not  through  the  law  was  the  promise  to  Abra- 
ham or  to  his  seed  that  he  should  be  heir  of  the  world, 
but  through  the  righteousness  of  faith.  [In  this  third 
division  of  his  argument  Paul  shows  that  Abraham  did  not  ob- 
tain the  promise  of  heirship  for  himself  and  his  seed  through 
the  agency  of  the  law,  but  by  reason  of  the  righteousness 
reckoned  to  him  because  of  his  faith.  Many  promises  were 
given  to  Abraham  (Gen.  12:  7;  13:  14,  15  ;  15:  13  ;  17:  8;  22:  17), 
and  Paul  sums  them  all  up  in  the  phrase,  "that  he  should  be 
heir  of  the  world."  This  phrase  has  been  variously  explained, 
but  it  obviously  means  that  Abraham  should  inherit  the  world 
as  his  spiritual  children,  and  that  his  children  should  inherit  it 
also  as  their  spiritual  family  or  household.  The  heirship  of 
Abraham  in  no  way  conflicts  with  that  of  Christ  or  God.  Comp. 
8:  17.]  14  For  if  they  that  are  of  the  law  are  heirs,  faith 
is  made  void,  and  the  proniise  is  made  of  none  effect : 
15  for  the  law  worketh  wrath ;  but  where  there  is  no 
law,  neither  is  there  transgression.  [Abraham  had,  by 
reason  of  his  human  nature,  to  be  justified  by  his  faith.  If 
justification  had  to  be  earned,  and  men  had  to  seek  it  by  the 
works  of  the  law,  then  faith — all  the  things  which  we  hope  for 
and  believe  in — would  be  made  void.]  16  For  this  cause 
it  is  of  faith,  that  it  may  be  according  to  grace ;  to  the 
end  that  the  promise  may  be  sure  to  all  the  seed ;  not 
to  that  only  which  is  of  the  law,  but  to  that  also  which 
is  of  the  faith  of  Abraham,  who  is  the  father  of  us  all 
17  (as  it  is  written  [Gen.  17:  5],  A  father  of  many  nations 
have  I  made  thee)  before  him  whom  ye  believed,  even 


328  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

God,  who  giveth  life  to  the  dead,  and  calleth  the  things 
that  are  not,  as  though  they  -were.  18  Who  in  hope 
believe  against  hope,  to  the  end  that  he  might  become 
a  father  of  many  nations,  according  to  that  which  had 
been  spoken.  So  shall  thy  seed  be.  [Now,  since  a  right- 
eousness of  law  is  unattainable  by  men,  the  inheritance  was 
bestowed  because  of  a  righteousness  of  faith,  that  it  might  be 
a  free  gift,  and  that  all  the  promises  concerning  it  might  be 
sure,  to  the  entire  household.  Not  only  to  that  division  of 
Abraham's  spiritual  children  who  are  under  the  law  (believing 
Jews),  but  also  to  that  part  who  are  only  his  children  by  reason 
of  a  like  faith  with  him  (believing  Gentiles),  for  Abraham  is 
the  father  of  all  believers,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles ;  as  it  is 
written,  **A  father  of  many  nations  have  I  made  thee."  And 
Abraham  was  such  a  spiritual  father  in  the  estimate  of  God, 
who,  in  his  omnipotence  and  omniscience,  gives  life  to  the 
dead  (and,  from  a  child-bearing  standpoint,  Abraham  and 
Sarah  were  as  good  as  dead),  and  speaks  of  unborn  and  as  yet 
non-existent  children  as  though  they  already  had  being.  And 
God  spoke  thus  to  the  man  who,  when  nature  withheld  all 
reason  to  hope,  still  hoped  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  from 
God  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise  that  he  should  be  the  father 
of  many  nations,  according  to  God's  gracious  assurance,  when 
he  bade  Abraham  look  upon  the  stars,  and  said,  "  So  shall  thy 
seed  be."  The  word  "made,"  in  verse  17,  means  to  constitute 
or  appoint.  "This  word,"  says  Shedd,  "denotes  that  the  pater- 
nity spoken  of  was  the  result  of  a  special  arrangement  or  econ- 
omy. It  would  not  be  used  to  denote  the  merely  physical 
connection  between  father  and  son."  Such  a  word  is  to  be 
expected,  for  the  promise  was  that  Abraham  was  to  be  a 
spiritual,  not  a  fleshly,  father  of  many  nations.  Again,  it  is 
fittingly  said  that  Abraham  was  such  in  God's  sight,  for  it  was 
God,  and  not  man,  who  thus  anticipated  the  future.  Though 
Abraham  and  Sarah  were  long  past  the  age  of  child-bearing, 
and  though  it  was  to  be  many  centuries  before  Abraham  would 
have  spiritual  children,  begotten  of  the  gospel  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, yet  God  spoke  of  him  as  the  father  of  many  nations;  fore- 


GOSPEL    METHOD   OF  JUSTIFICATION    329 

knowing  his  own  power  and  foreseeing  his  own  workings,  God 
meant  both  to  make  him  a  father  in  the  near  future,  and  to 
give  him  a  spiritual  seed  among  the  Gentiles  in  the  remote 
future.]  19  And  without  being  weakened  in  faith  he 
considered  his  ow^n  body  now  as  good  as  dead  (he 
being  about  a  hundred  years  old),  and  the  deadness  of 
Sarah's  womb  ;  20  yet,  looking  unto  the  promise  of 
God,  he  wavered  not  through  unbelief,  but  waxed 
strong  through  faith,  giving  glory  to  God,  21  and  being 
fully  assured  that  what  he  had  promised,  he  was  able 
also  to  perform.  [This  paragraph  explains  the  clause  in 
verse  i8,  which  sets  forth  how  Abraham  "in  hope  believed 
against  hope."  God  promised  Abraham  a  son,  and  though 
nature  told  him  that  it  was  now  impossible  for  him  to  have  a 
son,  by  reason  of  his  own  age,  and  the  age  of  his  wife,  yet 
Abraham  believed  that  (the  promise  of)  God  was  more  potent 
than  (the  laws  of)  nature,  and  in  this  belief  he  waxed  strong, 
and  glorified  God  above  nature,  being  fully  assured  that  God 
was  able  to  perform  all  that  he  promised.]  22  Wherefore 
also  it  was  reckoned  unto  him  for  righteousness. 
[Abraham,  like  all  others,  could  not  honor  God  by  rendering 
perfect  obedience  to  his  will,  but  he  could  honor  him  by  being 
fully  persuaded  that  he  would  keep  his  word,  though  to  do  so 
might  seemingly  involve  an  impossibility.  It  was  this  act  of 
honoring  God  by  belief  which  was  reckoned  unto  Abraham  for 
righteousness.  Faith  still  thus  honors  God  when  it  trusts  that 
God  can  love  a  sinner  and  save  him  notwithstanding  his  lost 
condition.  "The  sinner,"  says  Hodge,  "honors  God,  in  trust- 
ing his  grace,  as  much  as  Abraham  did  in  trusting  his  power."] 
23  Now  it  was  not  written  for  his  sake  alone,  that  it 
was  reckoned  unto  him  ;  24  but  for  our  sake  also,  un- 
to whom  it  shall  be  reckoned,  who  believe  on  him  that 
raised  Jesus  our  Lord  from  the  dead,  25  who  was  de- 
livered up  for  our  trespasses,  and  w^as  raised  for  our 
justification.  [Now,  Moses,  when  he  recorded  the  fact  that 
Abraham  was  accounted  righteous  for  his  faith,  did  not  do  so 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  giving  Abraham  the  honor  due  him,  but 


330  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

he  also  recorded  the  fact  for  our  sakes  also,  unto  whom  a  like 
righteousness  shall  be  reckoned  because  we  believe  on  God 
the  Father  that  raised  Jesus  our  Lord  from  the  dead,  even 
Jesus  who  was  delivered  up  to  die  for  our  sins,  and  raised  from 
the  dead  for  our  justification.  This  paragraph  shows  that  our 
belief  is  very  similar  to  that  of  Abraham.  If  Abraham  be- 
lieved that  God  could  accomplish  seemingly  impossible  things 
concerning  his  son  Isaac,  so  we  likewise  believe  that  God  ac- 
complished, and  will  accomplish,  seemingly  impossible  things 
through  Jesus,  who,  according  to  the  flesh,  was  also  a  son  of 
Abraham.  In  both  cases  it  is  no  mere  abstract  belief  in  God, 
but  a  concrete  belief  as  to  certain  facts  accomplished  and  to  be 
accomplished  by  God.  In  verse  25  Paul  presents  the  twofold 
nature  of  Christ's  propitiatory  work,  for  he  was  both  sacrifice 
and  priest.  He  offered  himself  and  was  delivered  up  as  a 
sacrifice  for  our  sins,  and  he  was  raised  from  the  dead  and 
ascended  to  heaven  that  he  might,  as  High  Priest,  present  his 
blood  before  the  face  of  God  in  a  heavenly  sanctuary  for  our 
justification,  thus  completing  his  high-priestly  duties  or  offices — 
Heb.  9:  11-28.] 

Subdivision   D. 

RESULTS     OF     CHRIST'S     LIFE     DISCUSSED, 

AND    SHOWN   TO   BE   CAPABLE   OF  AS 

LIMITLESS  UNIVERSALITY  AS  THE 

RESULTS   OF  ADAM'S    LIFE. 

5:  1-21. 

I. 

RESULTS  OF  THE  JUSTIFICATION  WROUGHT  BY 

CHRIST,  VIZ.:  PEACE,  HOPE,  LOVE 

AND    RECONCILIATION. 

5:1-11. 

1  Being  therefore  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace 
with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  2  through 
whom  also  we  have  had  our  access  by  faith  into  this 


RESULTS    OF   THE  JUSTIFICATION        331 

grace  wherein  we  stand  ;  and  we  rejoice  in  hope  of  the 
glory  of  God.  [Having  fully  established  justification  by  faith 
as  a  fact  beyond  all  controversy,  the  apostle  now  proceeds  to  dis- 
play its  fruits  and  benefits.  Therefore,  says  he,  being  justified  or 
accounted  righteous  because  of  our  faith,  we  have,  through  the 
merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  obtained  peace  with  God  ;  that  is  to  say, 
we  have  the  -friendship  of  God,  and  our  disquieted  conscience 
has  grown  tranquil  in  the  assurance  that  God  no  longer  regards 
us  as  enemies,  to  be  subdued,  or  criminals,  to  be  punished. 
And,  through  the  merits  of  Christ,  we  have  also  entered,  by 
faith,  into  this  gracious  state  of  covenant  relationship,  favor, 
fellowship  and  communion  with  God  which  is  now  accorded  us, 
and  by  which  we  are  now  strengthened  and  established,  and 
we  have  hope  of  that  infinitely  greater  fellowship  and  com- 
munion which  we  shall  enjoy  when  we  stand  at  last  in  the 
revealed  glory  of  God — John  17:24;  Rev.  21:11;  22:4,  5.] 
3  And  not  only  so,  but  w^e  also  rejoice  in  our  tribu- 
lations :  knowing  that  tribulation  worketh  stedfast- 
ness ;  4  and  stedfastness,  approvedness ;  and  ap- 
provedness,  hope  :  5  and  hope  putteth  not  to  shame  ; 
because  the  love  of  God  hath  been  shed  abroad  in  our 
hearts  through  the  Holy  Spirit  which  was  given  unto 
us.  [But  the  joy  of  the  believer  is  not  confined  to  this  expec- 
tation of  future  good ;  he  rejoices  also  in  present  evils,  even  in 
tribulation,  because  tribulation  develops  in  him  those  elements 
of  character  which  make  him  useful  here,  and  prepare  him  for 
heaven  hereafter;  for  tribulation  teaches  him  that  patience  or 
steadfastness  which  endures  without  flinching,  and  this  stead- 
fastness wakens  in  him  a  sense  of  divine  approval,  and  the 
thought  that  God  approves  adds  to  his  hope  that  he  shall  obtain 
the  blessings  of  the  future  world,  and  this  hope  is  not  so  fickle 
as  to  disappoint  or  mock  him,  but  gives  him  triumphant  cer- 
tainty, because  the  love  which  God  has  towards  him  fills  his 
heart,  being  inwardly  manifested  to  him  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
who  is  given  to  all  believers — at  the  time  of  their  regeneration.] 
6  For  w^hile  w^e  were  yet  weak,  in  due  season  Christ 
died  for  the  ungodly.   7  For  scarcely  for  a  righteous  man 


332  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

will  one  die :  for  peradventure  for  the  good  man  some 
one  would  even  dare  to  die.  8  But  God  commendeth 
his  own  love  toward  us,  in  that,  while  we  were  yet 
sinners,  Christ  died  for  us.  9  Much  more  then,  being 
now  justified  by  his  blood,  shall  w^e  be  saved  from  the 
wrath  of  God  through  him.  10  For  if,  while  we  were 
enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to  God  through  the  death 
of  his  Son,  much  more,  being  reconciled,  shall  we  be 
saved  by  his  life  ;  11  and  not  only  so,  but  we  also  re- 
joice in  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  through 
w^hom  w^e  have  now^  received  the  reconciliation.  [We 
have  here  the  external  evidences  or  manifestations  of  that  love 
of  God  which,  shed  abroad  in  the  heart  of  the  Christian,  forms 
the  basis  of  his  hope.  Before  we  were  strengthened  and  es- 
tablished by  covenant,  justification,  or  any  of  the  blessings  of 
a  state  of  grace  (verse  2),  yea,  even  while  we  were  in  that 
helpless  weakness  of  sin  which  so  incapacitated  us  as  to  render 
us  incapable  of  goodness,  Christ,  at  the  time  appointed  by  the 
Father  as  best  for  all  (at  the  time  when  the  disease  of  sin 
raging  in  the  human  race  had  reached  its  climax),  died  for  our 
benefit,  though  we  were  then  reckoned  among  the  unknown 
and  the  ungodly.  And  how  apparent  was  the  love  of  this 
action  on  his  part,  for  though  men  are  reluctant  and  unwilling 
enough  to  die  for  a  righteous,  z.  e.,  a  just  or  upright,  man,  and 
might,  perhaps,  be  persuaded  to  die  for  a  good,  /.  e.,  a  loving 
and  a  benevolent,  man,  yet  God  commends  to  us  the  love  he 
bears  towards  us,  in  that  we  see  that  he  gave  Christ  to  die  for 
us  while  we  were  not  good,  no,  not  even  upright,  but  while  we 
were  sinners.  And  no  wonder  that  such  a  love  becomes  to  us 
a  source  of  hope,  for,  viewing  the  situation  as  to  our  previous 
and  present  states,  if  he  did  this  for  us  while  in  a  sinful  or  un- 
justified state,  much  more  will  he  now  save  us  from  wrath  and 
deserved  punishment,  since  we  are  now  in  a  justified  state, 
being  cleansed  of  all  our  sins  by  the  blood  of  Jesus.  And  view- 
ing the  situation  as  to  Jesus,  and  his  past  and  present  power, 
if,  by  dying,  he  exercised  such  a  power  over  our  lives  that  he 
reconciled  us  to  God,  much  more,  being  made  amenable  to  his 


RESULTS  OF  THE  JUSTIFICATION        ^'^'^ 

power  by  being  thus  reconciled,  shall  he  be  able,  by  the  greater 
power  of  his  life  (for  the  living  Christ  is  more  powerful  than  a 
dead  one),  to  keep  us  in  the  way  of  life,  and  ultimately  save 
us.  Thus  we  see  that  peace,  and  a  covenant  state,  and  joy 
triumphing  over  tribulations,  and  hope  founded  on  the  love  of 
God,  are  all  fruits  of  justification ;  but  the  apostle,  in  verse  ii, 
adds  one  more:  Not  only,  says  he,  do  all  these  fruits  result, 
but  there  is  yet  another,  viz.:  we  rejoice  in  God.  We  no 
longer  rejoice  in  rites,  ceremonies,  ancestries,  or  legal  right- 
eousness, or  any  such  thing  ;  on  the  contrary,  we  rejoice  in 
God,  approaching  him  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  through 
whom  God  has  also  approached  us,  for  through  him  we  have 
now  received  this  reconciliation  which  causes  us  to  rejoice  in 
God.  In  verse  6,  instead  of  saying  that  Christ  died  for  us,  the 
apostle  uses  the  abstract  term  "the  ungodly."  Had  he  used 
the  pronoun  "us,"  it  might  have  confused  the  mind  of  his 
readers,  for  they  might  have  applied  it  to  themselves  as  Chris- 
tians, "us"  indicating  the  unity  of  church  fellowship.  But  the 
term  "ungodly"  admits  of  no  misconstruction  ;  it  describes  the 
scattered,  the  unknown,  the  lost.] 


II. 

ADAM,    THE    TRESPASSER    UNTO    DEATH,    CON- 
TRASTED  WITH   CHRIST,  THE   RIGHTEOUS 
UNTO   LIFE. 

5:  12-21. 

12  Therefore,  as  through  one  man  sin  entered  into 
the  world,  and  death  through  sin  ;  and  so  death  passed 
unto  all  men,  for  that  all  sin  :— 13  for  until  the  law  sin 
w^as  in  the  world ;  but  sin  is  not  imputed  when  there 
is  no  law.  14  Nevertheless  death  reigned  from  Adam 
until  Moses,  even  over  them  that  had  not  sinned  after 
the  likeness  of  Adam's  transgression,  who  is  a  figure 
of  him  that  was  to  come.     [The  comparison  opened  in  verse 


334  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

12  is  carried  through  various  contrasts  and  correlations  until  it 
closes,  as  modified  by  the  intervening  verses,  in  verse  i8.  Add- 
ing to  verse  12  the  modifications  which  appear  in  verse  18, 
and  skipping  the  intervening  correlations,  that  we  may  get  the 
connection,  and  have  the  central  thought  clearly  before  us,  we 
would  paraphrase  thus :  Now,  since  Christ  is  the  source  of  jus- 
tification and  all  its  benefits,  we  submit  to  you  a  comparison 
between  him  and  Adam,  who  is  the  source  of  condemnation 
and  all  its  hardships,  thus:  As  through  the  act  of  the  one  man, 
Adam,  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  as  through  this  one  sin 
death  also  entered,  so  that  for  this  one  sin  the  sentence  of  death 
passed  upon  us  all,  even  so  through  the  one  act  of  the  one, 
Christ  (viz.:  his  suffering  on  the  cross),  the  free  gift  of  being 
accounted  righteous  came  unto  all  men  to  justify  them  {i.  e., 
to  release  them  from  the  sentence  of  death  which  came  upon 
them  by  Adam's  sin),  that  they  might  live.  Such  is  the  central 
thought  of  the  remainder  of  this  chapter.  But  we  have  antici- 
pated the  full  comparison,  and  the  reader  must  bear  in  mind, 
in  the  perusal  of  what  follows,  that  Paul  is  working  it  out,  and 
does  not  complete  it  until  verse  18.  With  verse  13  Paul  enters 
on  a  proof  that  all  sinned  in  Adam,  and  incurred  the  death 
penalty  by  reason  of  his  sin  as  their  federal  head,  and  not  by 
reason  of  their  own  individual  sins.  To  understand  his  argu- 
ment, we  must  remember  that  God  gave  a  law  of  life  and  death 
to  Adam,  and  then  refrained  from  giving  any  law  like  it  until 
the  days  of  Moses.  The  law  of  Moses  was  also  one  of  fife  and 
death.  It  provided  that  those  who  kept  it  should  live,  and  that 
those  who  failed  to  keep  it  should  die.  But  as  none  kept  it,  it 
became  a  general  law,  involving  all  under  it  in  the  condemnation 
of  death.  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  Adam  died  for  his  own 
sin,  and  equally  clear  that  those  who  lived  under  the  Mosaic 
law  might  have  died  for  their  own  sin  as  well  as  for  Adam's 
sin.  But  for  whose  sin  did  those  die  who  lived  in  the  twenty- 
five  centuries  between  Adam  and  Moses  ?  Clearly  they  died 
for  the  sin  committed  by  Adam,  their  head.  Keeping  these 
things  before  us,  we  follow  Paul's  reasoning  thus :  It  is  clear 
that  men  die  because  they  sinned  in  Adam,  their  federal  head, 


ADAM  AND    CHRIST  .  335 

and  not  because  they  committed  sin  in  their  individual  ca- 
pacity ;  for  though  it  is  true  that  the  people  living  in  the  world 
from  the  days  of  Adam  until  the  giving  of  the  law  committed 
sin,  yet  where  there  is  no  law  condemning  to  death  (and  there 
was  none  such  in  those  days)  sin  is  not  imputed  so  as  to  incur 
the  sentence  of  death.  Therefore,  in  this  absence  of  law,  the 
people  of  that  day  would  have  lived  in  spite  of  their  own  indi- 
vidual sins;  nevertheless,  death  reigned  from  Adam  until 
Moses,  even  over  those  who  had  not  broken  any  law  having  a 
death  penalty  attached  to  it,  as  did  Adam,  who,  in  his  repre- 
sentative capacity  as  head  of  the  race,  was  a  figure  or  a  type 
of  the  coming  Christ,  who  was  also  to  be  manifested  as  a  repre- 
sentative head  of  the  race.  It  may  be  noted  here  that  some, 
by  reason  of  their  gross  wickedness,  may  have  been  specially 
punished  by  death,  as,  for  instance,  those  who  were  obHterated 
by  the  deluge,  or  those  who  were  burned  in  the  flames  of 
Sodom,  etc.,  and  also  it  may  be  observed  that  murderers 
should  suffer  death  for  their  sin  (Gen.  9:  6).  But  there  was  no 
general  law  involving  all  in  the  death  penalty,  and  such  special 
instances  in  no  way  weakened  Paul's  argument,  for  these,  in- 
deed, died  by  special  dispensation  of  providence,  on  account  of 
their  peculiar  wickedness ;  but  they  would  have  died  just  the 
same,  under  the  decree  passed  upon  Adam,  if  they  had  never 
been  guilty  of  this  peculiar  wickedness,  just  as  all  others  died 
who  were  not  thus  guilty.  In  other  words,  individual  guilt  did 
not  bring  th*e  death  sentence,  for  it  already  rested  on  all;  it 
only  brought  a  sudden,  summary  and  peculiar  mode  of  death 
upon  these  particular  sinners,  so  as  to  stamp  them  as  abnor- 
mally wicked.]  15  But  not  as  the  trespass,  so  also  is 
the  free  gift.  [Thus  far  Paul  has  told  us  that  Adam  is  the 
source  of  sin,  condemnation  and  death,  and  that  he  is  a  type 
of  Christ.  In  this  fifteenth  verse  he  qualifies  the  relation  of 
type  and  antitype  by  a  statement  that  their  resemblance  does 
not  hold  good  in  all  respects,  for  the  sin  of  Adam  is  not  like 
the  free  gift  of  Christ  when  he  offered  himself  upon  the  cross. 
Not  only  do  these  two  acts  differ  in  their  very  essence,  one 
being  the  perfection  of  self-indulgence,  with  power  to  kill,  and 


336  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

the  other  the  perfection  of  self-sacrifice,  with  power  to  make 
alive  ;  but,  as  might  be  expected,  there  is  a  world-wide  differ- 
ence, both  as  to  the  results,  and  as  to  the  range  or  scope,  and 
the  certainty  of  the  results.  With  these  thoughts  Paul  now 
concerns  himself.]  For  if  by  the  trespass  of  the  one  the 
many  died,  much  more  did  the  grace  of  God,  and  the 
gift  by  the  grace  of  the  one  man,  Jesus  Christ,  abound 
unto  the  many.  [If  Adam's  one  act  of  sin  brought  death 
upon  the  race,  so  that  all  men  die  because  of  his  act,  much 
more  did  the  goodness  or  favor  of  God  and  the  gift  of  life 
by  the  goodness  or  favor  of  one  man,  Jesus  Christ,  abound 
unto  the  many.  We  are  here  informed  that  the  result  of  the 
sacrificial  act  of  Christ  fully  reversed  and  nullified  the  effects 
of  the  act  of  Adam,  and  that  it  did  even  much  more.  The 
effect,  in  other  words,  had  in  all  points  as  wide  a  range,  and 
in  some  points  a  much  wider  range,  than  that  of  Adam's  act. 
Without  explaining  how  it  is  as  wide-reaching  as  Adam's  act, 
the  apostle  presses  on  to  tell  in  what  respects  the  act  of  Christ 
is  wider.  But,  to  avoid  misunderstanding,  we  should  pause  to 
see  how  Christ's  act  equaled  and  nullified  Adam's  act.  Adam, 
as  progenitorial  head  of  the  race  (i  Tim.  2:  13  ;  i  Cor.  11:8), 
involved,  by  his  sin,  all  the  race  in  natural  death — death  with- 
out any  hope  of  a  resurrection,  much  less  of  immortality. 
Christ,  as  creative  head  of  the  race,  by  his  righteousness 
redeemed  all  from  this  natural  death  by  accomplishing  for  all 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  So  far,  the  act  of  Christ  merely 
cancels  the  act  of  Adam.  If  the  act  of  Christ  had  had  no 
wider  effectiveness  than  this,  it  would  have  been  insufficient 
for  man's  needs.  It  would  doubtless  have  sufficed  for  infants, 
and  others  whom  immaturity  and  mental  incapacity  rendered 
incapable  of  individual  sin,  but  it  would  have  fallen  short  of 
the  needs  of  those  who,  in  addition  to  their  sin  in  Adam,  had 
other  sins  of  their  own  for  which  to  answer.  The  hope  of  the 
world  lies,  therefore,  in  the  "much  more"  which  Paul  states. 
Again,  we  should  notice  that  if  we  had  only  Adam's  sin  to 
answer  for,  then  the  teaching  of  this  passage  would  establish 
the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation,  for  Christ's  act  completely 


ADAM  AND    CHRIST  ?>i7 

counteracted  Adam's  act.  But  there  are  other  sins  beside 
that  first  one  committed  by  Adam,  and  other  punishments 
beside  natural  death.  It  is  in  its  deaHngs  with  those  that  the 
range  of  Christ's  act  exceeds  that  of  Adam,  and  it  is  here  also 
that  salvation  becomes  limited.  The  resurrection  (which  nul- 
lifies the  effect  of  Adam's  act),  though  a  form  of  justification, 
precedes  the  hour  of  judgment,  and  hence  can  not  be  final 
justification,  for  the  latter  is  the  product  of  the  judgment. 
Moreover,  the  resurrection' which  Christ  effects,  as  federal 
creative  head  of  the  race,  does  not  depend  upon  faith  ;  for  all, 
the  believing  and  the  unbelieving,  the  just  and  the  unjust, 
have  part  in  it.  But  the  justification  which  comes  after  that 
resurrection  depends  upon  other  relations  and  provisions.  In 
administering  this  final  justification,  Christ  stands  as  the  federal 
regenerative  head  (the  headship  which  peculiarly  pertains  to 
the  church,  and  not  to  the  race — Eph.  i:  22,  23),  and  bestows  it 
upon  that  part  of  the  race  which  has  been  regenerated  by  faith. 
This  headship,  therefore,  is  conditional,  and  the  salvation  which 
depends  upon  it  is  not  universal,  but  conditioned  on  faith.  To 
illustrate  by  a  figure,  there  are  two  doors  which  we  must  pass 
in  order  to  inherit  eternal  life.  The  first  is  natural  death.  This 
door  was  closed  for  all  by  Adam,  and  opened  for  all  by  Christ. 
The  second  is  the  judgment.  This  door  was  closed  for  all 
having  capacity  to  sin  by  their  own  individual  sins,  and  opened 
by  Christ  for  those  who  shall  be  justified  through  belief  in  him. 
Therefore,  in  teaching  that  Christ  leads  all  through  the  first 
door,  Paul  has  not  taught  universal  salvation,  for  true,  complete 
salvation  lies  beyond  the  second  door.  Justification  from  the 
sin  of  Adam  is  one  thing,  and  final  justification  from  out  own 
sins  is  quite  another.]  16  And  not  as  through  one  that 
sinned,  so  is  the  gift:  for  the  judgment  came  of  one 
unto  condemnation,  but  the  free  gift  came  of  many 
trespasses  unto  justification.  [The  apostle  here  makes 
mention  of  the  main  particular,  wherein  the  effect  of  Christ's 
act  has  a  wider  range  than  the  effect  of  Adam's  act.  It  may 
be  well  to  observe,  at  this  point,  that  wherever  the  act  of  Christ 
is  simply  equal  in  range  to  that  of  Adam,  the  effect  is  uncon- 


338  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

ditional ;  but  wherever  the  range  exceeds  that  of  Adam,  then 
it  becomes  conditional  upon  faith,  and  is  only  enjoyed  by 
believers.  Paul  does  not  here  pause  to  bring  out  this  important 
detail,  but  it  is  abundantly  set  forth  by  him  elsewhere,  and  by 
other  New  Testament  writers,  so  that  it  is,  of  course,  implied 
here.  Moreover,  says  he,  the  sentence  of  condemnation  which 
came  through  the  one  person,  Adam,  though  it  comprehended 
the  whole  human  family,  is  not  as  wide-reaching  as  the  free 
gift,  or  justification,  which  came  through  Christ,  for  the  judg- 
ment came  because  of  one  sin  ;  but  the  free  gift  of  justification 
came  as  to  many  trespasses  to  pardon  them.  In  other  words, 
the  bestowal  of  justification  exceeded  in  quantity  the  bestowal 
of  condemnation;  for  one  condemnation  was  given  for  one  sin, 
but  the  justification  was  bestowed  many  times  because  of  many 
sins.  If  Christ's  one  act  of  sacrifice  had  simply  counteracted 
the  effects  of  the  one  sin  of  Adam,  then  there  would  have  been 
equality;  but  it  did  much  more,  for  it  also  effected  the  justi- 
fication of  the  countless  trespasses  of  believers  who  obtained 
pardon  by  reason  of  it.  How  great  is  the  efficacy  of  our  Lord's 
sacrificial  act !  If  one  single  sin  brought  death  upon  the  entire 
human  family,  how  unspeakably  awful  is  its  power  !  Who  can 
measure  the  destructive  force  and  the  eternal  energy  of  a  single 
sin  ?  Who  then  can  estimate  the  justifying  power  of  the  sacri- 
fice of  Christ,  since  it  nullifies,  for  believers,  the  accumulative 
power  of  the  incalculable  numbers  of  sins  committed  by  in- 
numerable sinners,  in  all  the  untold  moments  of  human  lives, 
each  sin  of  which  carries  a  destructive  force  which  no  lapse  of 
ages  can  exhaust?  No  wonder,  then,  that  we  are  told  that 
there  is  no  "other  name  under  heaven,  that  is  given  among 
men,  wherein  we  must  be  saved."  We  should  note  also  that 
Paul  does  not  here  say  that  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  justifies  all 
mankind  from  their  many  trespasses.  This  would  be  Univer- 
salism.  He  merely  contrasts  the  power  of  one  sin  with  that 
greater  power  which  nullifies  the  effect  of  many  sins,  and  thus 
shows  that  the  range  of  Christ's  act  exceeded  that  of  Adam. 
To  counteract  Adam's  one  sin  in  a  million  of  his  descendants, 
is  a  narrower  work  than  to  counteract  the  more  than  a  million 


ADAM  AND    CHRIST  339 

sins  committed  by  any  mature  sinner,  much  less  the  unthink- 
able number  committed  by  millions  of  sinners.]  17  For  if, 
by  the  trespass  of  the  one,  death  reigned  through  the 
one  ;  much  more  shall  they  that  receive  the  abundance 
of  grace  and  of  the  gift  of  righteousness  reign  in  life 
through  the  one,  even  Jesus  Christ.  [The  apostle  now 
undertakes  to  show  wherein  the  results  of  Christ's  act  are  more 
certain  than  those  of  Adam's  act.  By  the  use  of  "receive," 
which  is  active,  and  not  passive,  Paul  makes  it  plain  that  the 
results  of  Christ's  act,  of  which  he  now  speaks,  are  conditioned 
upon  an  acceptance  of  the  act  on  the  part  of  mankind.  For  if, 
says  he,  by  the  trespass  of  one  man,  death  reigned  upon  all, 
through  the  sin  of  one,  much  more  surely  (because  of  the 
nature  of  God  the  Father,  and  the  august  personality  of  his 
Son)  shall  they  that  accept  and  receive  to  themselves  the 
abundance  of  grace  offered  through  Christ,  and  the  abundance 
of  the  gift  of  righteousness  (or  justification),  reign  in  that  inef- 
fable future  of  Hfe  through  one,  even  through  Jesus  Christ. 
The  Son  of  God  is  a  greater  personage  than  Adam,  and  the 
positive  power  of  his  righteousness  is  greater  than  the  negative 
power  of  Adam's  sin  ;  therefore,  if  Adam's  act  has  insured, 
and  still  insures,  the  reign  of  death  in  the  world,  much  more 
does  Christ's  act  insure  the  reign  of  life  in  the  future  world. 
The  word  "  abundance,"  found  in  this  verse,  is  very  significant. 
All  shall  have  the  ordinary  grace  and  righteousness  in  Christ 
which  result  in  the  resurrection — gracious  result,  which  equals 
and  nullifies  the  ungracious  workings  of  the  sin  of  Adam ;  but 
ojily  those  who  "receive"  it  by  faith  shall  have  that  surplus  or 
"abundance"  of  the  act  of  Christ  which  exceeds  the  act  of 
Adam,  and  results  in  a  reign  of  life,  not  a  mere  resurrection.] 
18  So  then  as  through  one  trespass  the  judgment  came 
unto  all  men  to  condemnation;  even  so  through  one 
act  of  righteousness  the  free  gift  came  unto  all  men 
to  justification  of  life.  [So  then,  says  the  apostle,  in 
conclusion,  if  one  act  of  sin  brought  sentence  of  condemnation 
unto  death  upon  a41,  because  all  were  in  sinful  Adam  as  their 
forefather,  thus  sharing  his  act ;  so  also  one  act  of  righteousness 


340  EPISTLE    TO   THE  ROMANS 

(the  sacrifice  of  the  cross)  brought  unto  all  justification  (or 
release  from  Adam's  sentence  of  condemnation)  unto  life. 
Adam's  sin  brought  natural  death  upon  the  whole  human 
family,  but  nothing  more.  The  punishment  which  we  incur 
through  Adam  terminates  at  death.  If  men  are  punished  aiter 
death,  it  is  not  because  of  Adam's,  but  because  of  their  own, 
individual  sins.]  19  For  as  through  the  one  man's  dis- 
obedience the  many  were  made  sinners,  even  so 
through  the  obedience  of  the  one  shall  the  many  be 
made  righteous.  [V^erse  i8  has  spoken  of  the  effects;  viz.: 
condemnation  and  justification.  This  verse  proves  that  these 
effects  must  come,  for  it  sets  forth  the  causes,  sin  and  right- 
eousness, which  produce  them,  and  shows  where  and  how 
these  causes  came  to  exist,  thus  showing  that  Adam  and  Christ 
resemble  each  other  in  that  one  is  the  fountain  of  evil  and  the 
other  the  fountain  of  good  ;  for,  as  the  disobedierice  of  one 
caused  many  (all)  to  be  constituted  sinners  who  had  personally 
committed  no  sin,  so  the  obedience  of  the  other  (Phil.  2:  8) 
caused  the  many  (all)  to  be  constituted  righteous  as  to  Adam's 
sin  (z.  e.,  sufficiently  to  be  resurrected).  It  is  evident  that 
only  in  verses  16  and  17  does  Paul  suggest  any  of  those  larger 
results  wherein  the  act  of  Christ  exceeded  those  of  the  acts  of 
Adam.  It  may  seem  strange  to  some  that,  having  thus  intro- 
duced the  larger  things  of  Christ,  Paul  should,  in  verses  18  and 
19,  return  to  those  things  wherein  the  acts  of  each  were  equal. 
But  this  is  to  be  expected,  for  Paul  is  describing  the  resem- 
blance of  the  two ;  and,  of  course,  where  one  exceeds  the 
other,  the  resemblance  ceases.  It  is  natural,  therefore,  that 
Paul  should  briefly  dismiss  these  enlargements  or  "abundances" 
of  Christ  which  exceed  similarity,  and  return  to  that  precise 
point,  the  unity  of  the  many  in  the  one,  which  constitutes  be- 
tween the  two  federal  heads  the  relation  of  type  and  antitype. 
It  was  Paul's  design  to  establish  this  oneness,  "in  order  that," 
as  Chrysostom  observes,  "when  the  Jew  says  to  you,  'How  by 
the  well-doing  of  one,  Christ,  was  the  world  saved?'  you  may 
be  able  to  say  to  him,  'How  by  the  disobedience  of  one,  Adam, 
was  the  world  condemned  ?'  "]     20  And  the  law  came  in 


ADAM  AND    CHRIST  341 

besides,  that  the  trespass  might  abound;  but  -where 
sin  abounded,  grace  did  abound  more  exceedingly :  21 
that,  as  sin  reigned  in  death,  even  so  might  grace  reign 
through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.  [All  this  reasoning  almost  wholly  ignores 
the  Mosaic  law  :  where  then  did  it  come  in  ?  and  how  did  it 
affect  the  situation?  Thus:  the  law  came  in,  in  addition  to 
sin  and  death,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  sin,  and  also  that 
sense  of  guilt  which  could  not  be  very  poignantly  felt  while 
men  were  dying  on  account  of  a  prenatal  sin  committed  by 
Adam.  But  when  the  law  had  thus  made  men  conscious  of 
the  abundant  and  universal  prevalence  of  sin,  then  the  grace  of 
God  made  itself  even  more  abundant  in  longsuffering,  in 
patience,  in  forbearance,  etc.,  and  especially  in  preparing  the 
gospel ;  that  as  sin  had  reigned,  and  produced  death,  even  so 
grace  might  reign  through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life, 
through  the  ministry  and  sacrifice  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.] 


Subdivision  E. 

SANCTIFICATION     OF     THE     BELIEVER     RE- 
QUIRED AND   OBTAINED  IN   CHANGE   OF 
RELATIONSHIP   BY  THE   GOSPEL. 

-    6:  1-8:  30. 

I. 

JUSTIFICATION    IS    BROUGHT    ABOUT    BY   SUCH 
A  RELATION  TO   CHRIST  AS   CREATES   AN   OB- 
LIGATION TO  BE  DEAD  TO  SIN  AND  ALIVE 
TO  RIGHTEOUSNESS,  AS  IS  SYMBOL- 
ICALLY   SHOWN  BY  BAPTISM. 

6:  1-14. 

1  What  shall  we  say  then  ?  Shall  we  continue  in 
sin,  that  grace  may  abound  ?  2  God  forbid.  We  who 
died  to   sin,  how^  shall  we  any  longer  live  therein  ? 

23 


342  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

[Macknight  says,  truly,  that  the  thought  of  this  and  the  next 
chapter  reverts  to  3:  31,  and  is  intended  to  refute  the  thought 
of  that  verse,  as  reintroduced  by  5:  20,  21 ;  viz.:  that  justifica- 
tion by  faith  renders  the  law  useless,  and  encourages  sin,  that 
grace  may  abound.  Paul  refutes  these  thoughts,  and  asserts 
the  contrary  principle,  that  justification  by  faith  establishes 
the  law.  What,  says  he,  shall  be  inferred  from  what  we  have 
taught?  It  is  true  that  God's  favor  abounds  in  proportion  to 
sin,  so  as  to  always  exceed  it ;  but  are  the  friends  of  Christ 
therefore  justified  in  thinking  they  can  live  sinfully  (Gal.  5:  13)? 
or  are  the  Lord's  enemies  justified  in  asserting  that  we  teach 
that  men  should  do  evil  that  good  may  come  (3:  9)?  or  that  we 
teach  that  Christians  should  continue  to  commit  sin,  as  they 
did  before  their  conversion,  in  order  that  they  may  increase  the 
grace  by  increasing  the  sin  (5:  20)?  Not  at  all.  Our  gospel 
destroys  sin  :  can  it,  therefore,  give  encouragement  and  vigor 
to  it?  We  who,  by  baptism,  have  put  away  sin,  so  that  we 
died  to  it,  can  we,  nevertheless,  accomplish  the  impossible  by 
still  living  in  it?  The  apostle,  in  asserting  that  baptism  is  a 
death  to  sin,  does  not  speak  literally,  but  uses  a  bold  and  ap- 
propriate figure,  suggested  by  the  inherent  symbolism  of  the 
ordinance.  Baptism  is  the  consummation  of  repentance  ;  and 
were  repentance  pe7'fect,  the  immersion  would  result  in  such 
an  abhorrence  of  sin,  such  a  complete  cessation  of  it,  and  such 
a  love  of  righteousness  as  would  bring  about  an  actual  death 
toward,  or  abolition  of,  sin,  and  the  Lord  designed  and  desires 
such  a  full  transformation  ;  but  truth  compels  us  to  acknowledge 
that  repentance,  like  all  other  human  operations,  is  imperfect, 
and,  therefore,  in  baptism  we  only  die  to  sin  in  so  far  that  right- 
eousness becomes  the  rule  of  life,  and  sin  the  painful,  mortify- 
ing, humiliating,  heart-breaking  exception.]  3  Are  ye  igno- 
rant that  all  we  who  were  baptized  into  Christ  Jesus 
were  baptized  into  his  death  ?  4  We  were  buried 
therefore  with  him  through  baptism  into  death  :  that 
like  as  Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead  through  the 
glory  of  the  Father,  so  we  also  might  walk  in  new- 
ness of  life.      [The  apostle's  argument  rests  on  the  nature 


JUSTIFICATION  343 

of  Christ's  death,  etc.  Jesus  died  to  take  away  our  sins,  to 
bear  them  for  us,  and  rid  us  of  them  (John  i:  29  ;  i  Pet.  2:  24) ; 
but  in  order  that  he  may  do  this  for  us,  so  that  we  may  partake 
of  the  benefits  of  his  death,  it  is  necessary  that  he  be  our  rep- 
resentative ;  i.  e.,  that  we  be  in  him,  and  in  him  at  the  very 
ti?ne  when  he  thus  gave  himself  unto  death,  so  that  his  death 
becomes,  representatively,  our  death.  To  aid  us  in  conceiving 
the  accomplishment  of  this  unity  with  him  in  the  act  of  death, 
the  ordinance  of  baptism  was  instituted,  so  that,  by  it,  we  are 
not  only  baptized  into  him,  but  also  into  his  death.  One  pur- 
pose, therefore,  of  baptism  is  to  so  unite  us  with  him  that,  in 
him,  we  may  die  to  sin  and  a  life  in  a  sinful  kingdom  of  dark- 
ness, and  rise  to  live  again  in  righteousness  in  a  sinless  kingdom 
of  light  (7:  4  ;  8:  13  ;  Gal.  2:  19,  20 ;  5:  24 ;  6:  14  ;  Col.  2:  11- 
20).  Such  being  the  nature  of  the  ordinance,  it  precludes 
the  idea  that  a  baptized  person  could  continue  to  commit  sin. 
You  must  therefore  recognize,  says  the  apostle,  that  in  baptism 
you  died  with  Christ  unto  sin,  or  are  ye  so  ignorant  of  the 
meaning  of  that  ordinance  that  you  do  not  understand  that  it 
symbolizes  your  death  to  sin  and  your  resurrection  to  right- 
eousness? If  you  are  thus  ignorant,  then  know  that  all  we 
who  were  immersed  into  Christ  were  immersed  into  his  death. 
We  were  buried  with  him,  through  immersion,  into  death  as 
to  our  sin  :  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead,  because 
the  glory  of  the  just  and  holy  Father  required  it,  so  we  also 
might  walk  or  act  in  a  new  manner  of  life  ;  i.  e.,  a  sinless  life. 
Thus  baptism,  which  is  a  burial  and  resurrection  performed  in 
water,  attests,  in  the  strongest  manner,  the  Christian's  obliga- 
tion to  be  sinless.  Only  the  dead  are  buried.  Brief  as  is  the 
momentary  burial  of  the  immersed,  it  is,  nevertheless,  a  seal  of 
their  death  to  sin,  and  hence  of  their  cleansing  from  it  (Acts  2: 
38;  22: 16).  Only  the  resurrected  rise  from  the  grave.  There- 
fore, one  who  has  not  fully  resolved  to  live  as  having  died  unto 
sin  has  no  right  to  be  lifted  from  the  waters  of  baptism.  If  he 
is  still  dead  in  trespasses  and  sin,  he  should  remain  buried.] 
5  For  if  we  have  become  united  with  him  in  the  like- 
ness of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  in  the  likeness  of  his 


344  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

resurrection  [The  apostle  here  meets  the  cavil  of  some 
objector  who  supposes  that  we  might  die  to  sin  in  baptism,  and 
still  be  under  no  obligation  to  refrain  from  it  after  baptism. 
The  answer  is,  that  we  can  not  be  united  to  Christ  in  one  part 
of  the  ordinance  (the  burial,  or  immersion),  and  severed  from 
him  in  the  other  part  (the  resurrection,  or  emersion).  If,  says 
he,  we  have  become  united  with  Christ  in  that  part  of  the 
ordinance  wherein  he  died  to  destroy  the  power  of  sin,  it  is 
morally  certain  that  we  shall  continue  to  be  united  with  him  in 
that  other  part,  wherein  he  rose  to  lead  a  new  life — a  life  no 
longer  confined  to  earth  and  its  sinful  environment,  but  one  far 
removed  from  the  realm  of  wickedness  in  the  courts  of  the 
Father.  If,  therefore,  we  died  with  him  to  sin,  we  must  also 
rise  with  him  to  lead  a  new  life  in  the  (to  us)  new  kingdom  of 
God,  which  looks  forward  to  the  enjoyment  of  those  very 
changes  wrought  in  Christ  by  his  ascension.  Neither  in  dying 
nor  living  do  we  accomplish  the  actual  in  the  ordinance.  We 
are  not  actually  united  with  Christ  in  death,  but  in  an  ordi- 
nance which  resembles  it.  We  do  not  actually  die  as  to  sin, 
as  did  Christ ;  but  we  do  profess  a  likeness  to  his  death.  We 
do  not  rise,  as  did  he,  to  a  glorified  life,  but  we  strive  to  main- 
tain a  similitude,  or  likeness,  to  it.  When  at  last,  in  a  real  death 
and  resurrection,  Christ  actually  unites  us  with  himself,  we  shall 
indeed  be  dead  to  sin,  and  alive  to  righteousness  ;  for  there 
is  no  sin  among  the  immortals,  and  there  shall  be  no  lack  of  per- 
fection in  those  who  have  been  changed  into  Christ's  image]  ; 
6  knowing  this,  that  our  old  man  was  crucified  with 
him,  that  the  body  of  sin  might  be  done  away,  that  so 
we  should  no  longer  be  in  bondage  to  sin  ;  7  for  he 
that  hath  died  is  justified  from  sin.  8  But  if  we  died 
with  Christ,  we  believe  that  we  shall  also  live  with 
him;  9  knowing  that  Christ  being  raised  from  the 
dead  dieth  no  more ;  death  no  more  hath  dominion 
over  him.  10  For  the  death  that  he  died,  he  died  unto 
sin  once :  but  the  life  that  he  liveth,  he  liveth  unto 
God.  11  Even  so  reckon  ye  also  yourselves  to  be  dead 
unto  sin,  but  alive  unto  God  in  Christ  Jesus.     [At  this 


JUS  TIFICA  TION  345 

point  the  apostle  passes  over  from  the  symboHc  union  which  is 
effected  on  our  part  by  baptism,  to  the  actual  union  effected 
on  Christ's  part  by  his  real  assumption  of  our  humanity  through 
his  incarnation.  Though,  in  baptism,  we  only  symbolically 
died,  yet  we  may  be  sure  that  the  symbolism  has  actual  truth 
and  verity  back  of  it,  for  we  know  that  our  sinful  human 
nature,  which  we  sought  to  bury  in  baptism,  did  really,  actually, 
die  in  the  person  of  Christ  crucified,  that  the  sin  might  be 
purged,  and  that  it,  being  a  slave  to  sin,  might  obtain  actual, 
unqualified  liberty;  for  who  so  dies  pays  the  penalty  of  sin,  and 
(if  he  can  live  again)  obtains  his  freedom.  But  if  we  thus 
actually  die  in  Christ,  we  believe  that  we  shall  also  actually 
live  with  him  (not  a  merely  symbolically  glorified  life,  such  as 
this  present,  but  an  actually  glorified  existence  in  the  future), 
for  we  were  actually  united  with  him  in  his  passion,  and  we 
know  that  he  rose  triumphant  from  the  grave,  to  die  no  more  ; 
and  so,  we  being  in  him,  did  likewise,  and  the  act  was  final 
(as  to  us),  for  Christ  died  to  sin  once  (and  we  also  in  him),  but 
the  life  that  he  liveth  he  liveth  no  longer  in  mortal  fiesh  on 
earth  among  men,  but  he  liveth  it  in  the  presence  of  and  unto 
God  (and  we  also  in  him).  Since  we  know,  therefore,  that 
these  grand  verities  underlie  the  symbolic  profession  which 
we  make  in  baptism,  we  must  exalt  the  actual  above  the  sym- 
bolic, and  indeed  look  upon  ourselves  as  dead  unto  sin,  but 
alive  unto  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  not  as  mere  dreamers  fol- 
lowing an  idle,  visionary  symbol.]  12  Let  not  sin  therefore 
reign  in  your  mortal  body,  that  ye  should  obey  the 
lusts  thereof :  13  neither  present  your  members  unto 
sin  as  instruments  of  unrighteousness ;  but  present 
yourselves  unto  God,  as  alive  from  the  dead,  and  your 
members  as  instruments  of  righteousness  unto  God. 
14  For  sin  shall  not  have  dominion  over  you  :  for  ye 
are  not  under  law,  but  under  grace.  [Thus  the  apostle 
vindicates  his  teaching,  and  shows  that  it  does  not  justify  any 
indulgence  in  sin.  The  Christian  is  to  live  realizing  that  in 
the  person  of  Christ  he  has  already  actually  passed  from  death 
unto  life,  and  that  therefore  it  is  incumbent  upon  him  to  lead, 


346  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

as  far  as  his  strength  permits,  a  life  of  heavenly  perfection. 
He  is  to  remember  that  however  hard  his  conflict  with  sin  may 
be,  yet  sin  is  not  to  lord  it  over  him  in  the  end,  so  as  to  procure 
his  final  condemnation,  for  he  is  under  a  system  of  grace  which 
shall  procure  his  pardon  in  the  hour  of  judgment,  and  not  under 
a  system  of  law  which  would,  in  that  hour,  most  certainly  con- 
demn him.] 

II. 

JUSTIFICATION    RESULTS    IN   A    CHANGE    FROM 

SERVICE    OF    LAW    AND    SIN,    WITH    DEATH 

AS    A    REWARD,    TO    THE    SERVICE    OF 

GRACE  AND  RIGHTEOUSNESS,  WITH 

LIFE    AS   A    REWARD. 

6:  15-22. 

15  What  then  ?  shall  we  sin,  because  we  are  not 
under  law,  but  under  grace?  God  forbid.  [In  the  last 
section  Paul  showed  that  sin  was  not  justified,  even  though  it 
causes  God's  goodness  to  abound.  In  this  section  he  shows 
that  freedom  from  the  law  does  not  justify  freedom  in  sinning. 
As  usual,  he  presents  the  proposition,  denies  its  validity,  and 
expands  his  denial  in  what  follows.]  16  Know  ye  not,  that 
to  w^hom  ye  present  yourselves  as  servants  unto  obe- 
dience, his  servants  ye  are  whom  ye  obey;  whether 
of  sin  unto  death,  or  of  obedience  unto  righteousness? 
["I  take  it  for  granted  that  ye  know  and  believe"  {Sttiari)  the 
principles,  that  no  man  can  serve  two  masters  (Matt.  6:  24), 
and  that  no  matter  what  profession  he  makes  to  the  contrary, 
a  man  is  truly  the  servant  of  that  master  to  whom  he  habitually 
and  continually  yields  a  slavish  obedience  (John  8:  34).  These 
things  which  are  true  in  the  ordinary  walks  of  life  are  equally 
true  in  spiritual  matters,  whether  this  obedience  be  rendered 
unto  sin,  which  compensates  with  the  wages  of  eternal  death, 
or  whether  it  be  rendered  unto  God,  so  as  to  be  rewarded  with 
righteousness  or  justification  (which  is  a  prerequisite  to  eternal 


DEATH  AND  LIFE  AS  REWARDS         347 

life).  Thus  it  appears  that,  while  we  are  not  under  law,  we 
are  under  God ;  and  hence  under  obHgation  to  foster  and  pre- 
serve our  relation  to  him  as  his  servants,  a  relationship  which 
is  not  lost  by  a  single  act  of  weakness,  but  which  is  lost  if 
we  continue  in  sin.  "The  apostle,"  says  Scott,  "demanded 
whether  it  might  not  be  proved  what  master  any  one  served 
by  observing  the  constant  tenor  of  any  one's  conduct.  A  person 
may  do  an  occasional  service  for  any  one  to  whom  he  is  not 
servant ;  but  no  doubt  he  is  the  servant  of  that  man  to  whom 
he  habitually  yields  and  addicts  himself,  and  in  whose  work  he 
spends  his  time,  and  strength,  and  skill,  and  abilities,  day  after 
day,  and  year  after  year."]  17  But  thanks  be  to  God, 
that,  whereas  ye  -were  servants  of  sin,  ye  became  obe- 
dient from  the  heart  to  that  form  of  teaching  where- 
unto  ye  were  delivered ;  18  and  being  made  free  from 
sin,  ye  became  servants  of  righteousness.  19  I  speak 
after  the  manner  of  men  because  of  the  infirmity  of 
your  flesh :  for  as  ye  presented  your  members  as 
servants  to  uncleanness  and  to  iniquity  unto  iniquity, 
even  so  now  present  your  members  as  servants  to 
righteousnesss  unto  sanctification.  [But  thanks  be  to 
God  that  these  principles  are  not  mere  matters  of  speculation 
with  you,  but  have  been  tested  and  applied  by  you  in  your 
actual  experience,  for  whereas  ye  were  once  the  slaves  of  sin, 
ye,  of  your  own  free  will  and  heart's  choice,  changed  your 
masters,  and  became,  by  your  obedience  to  it,  the  servants  oi* 
slaves  of  the  principles  set  down  in  the  Christian  or  gospel  form 
of  teaching  whereunto  (as  is  the  custom  when  slaves  are  sold) 
ye  were  delivered  for  service.  Now,  I  use  this  illustration  of 
the  transfer  of  slaves,  which  is  taken  from  daily,  secular  affairs, 
not  because  it  is  a  perfect  and  adequate  representation  of  your 
change  of  relationship  in  passing  from  the  world  unto  Christ, 
but  because  your  fleshly  nature  clouds  your  understanding  of 
spiritual  ideas,  and  you  therefore  comprehend  them  better  if 
clothed  in  an  earthly  or  parabolic  dress,  even  if  the  figure  or 
illustration  is  defective.  Christ  is  far  from  being  a  tyrannical 
master,  and  certainly  cherishes  no  such  feelings  towards  you 


348  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

as  those  which  a  slave-owner  holds  towards  his  slaves;  yet  the 
figure  nevertheless  aids  you  to  comprehend  the  point  which  I 
am  now  discussing,  for  you  can  readily  see  that,  as  under  the 
old  slavery,  you  presented  your  members  as  servants  to  impurity 
and  to  lawlessness  for  the  purpose  of  being  lawless,  so,  under 
the  new  service,  it  behooves  you  to  now  present  your  members 
as  servants  to  righteousness  for  the  purpose  of  becoming  sancti- 
fied or  holy.]  20  For  when  ye  were  servants  of  sin,  ye 
were  free  in  regard  of  righteousness.  [Whole-hearted 
service  to  God  is  now  no  more  than  you,  by  your  past  conduct, 
recognized  as  reasonable.  For  when  ye  were  servants  of  sin 
ye  made  no  effort  whatever  to  serve  righteousness,  or  to  have 
two  masters.  If  ye  rendered  no  double-minded,  divided  service 
to  sin  in  the  days  of  your  unregeneracy,  surely  you  ought  now 
to  render  a  whole-souled,  single-minded  service  to  righteousness 
in  these  your  regenerate  days.]  21  What  fruit  then  had 
ye  at  that  time  in  the  things  whereof  ye  are  now 
ashamed  ?  for  the  end  of  those  things  is  death.  22  But 
now  being  made  free  from  sin  and  become  servants  to 
God,  ye  have  your  fruit  unto  sanctification,  and  the 
end  eternal  life.  23  For  the  wages  of  sin  is  death  ;  but 
the  free  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life  in  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord.  [If  consistency  demands  that  you  serve  God  with  your 
whole  heart,  so  profit  and  advantage  also  urges  you  so  to  do ; 
for  what'  profit  had  you  when  you  served  sin  ?  In  this  present 
you  were  reaping,  in  that  service,  the  things  at  which  you  may 
now  well  blush  with  shame,  since  they  were  preparing  you  to 
reap  in  the  future  death  as  a  final  harvest.  But  now  having 
been  made  free  from  the  slavery  of  sin,  and  havingbecome  a 
servant  of  God,  your  present  reward  is  the  blessedness  and  joy 
of  a  clean  life,  and  your  future  reward  is  life  eternal.  And 
this  is  obvious,  for,  following  my  figure  of  slaves,  masters  and 
wages  to  the  end,  the  wages  which  men  earn  and  receive  from 
your  former  master,  sin,  is  death  ;  but  the  wages  which  you 
can  not  earn,  or  deserve,  but  which  God  freely  gives  you  for 
serving  him,  is  eternal  life  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.] 


CHANGE   OF  RELATIONSHIP  349 


III. 

CHANGE     OF     RELATIONSHIP     FROM     LAW     TO 
CHRIST    ILLUSTRATED. 

7:  1-6. 

[In  6:  14  Paul  laid  down  the  principle  that  sin  does  not 
have  dominion  over  Christians,  because  they  are  not  under 
law,  but  under  grace.  The  section  which  we  have  just  closed 
discusses  the  first  clause  of  this  proposition  under  the  figure  of 
slavery,  and  shows  that  sin  does  not  have  dominion  over  us,  for 
we  have  changed  masters.  This  section  discusses  the  second 
half  of  the  proposition  under  the  figure  of  marriage,  and  shows 
that  we  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace,  for  in  Christ 
we  have  died  as  to  our  former  husband  (law),  and  been  mar- 
ried to  our  new  husband  (grace).]  1  Or  are  ye  ignorant, 
brethren  (for  I  speak  to  men  who  know  the  law),  that 
the  law^  hath  dominion  over  a  man  for  so  long  time  as 
he  liveth?  2  For  the  woman  that  hath  a  husband  is 
bound  by  law  to  the  husband  while  he  liveth ;  but  if 
the  husband  die,  she  is  discharged  from  the  law  of  the 
husband.  [If,  on  the  one  hand,  ye  are,  as  I  have  shown, 
emancipated  from  the  horrible  tyranny  of  sin,  that  ye  may 
serve  righteousness,  so,  on  the  other  hand,  are  ye  likewise 
emancipated  from  the  more  sane  and  orderly,  but  still  rigorous, 
dominion  of  law,  whether  given  by  Moses  or  otherwise,  that 
ye  may  live  under  the  mild  and  gentle  sway  of  grace.  And 
would  any  of  you  deny  this  latter  proposition?  Surely,  in  order 
to  do  so,  you  must  be  very  crude  in  knowledge  ;  but  I  can  not 
think  you  are  so  crude,  for  I  am  writing  to  those  who  know 
something  about  law,  and  hence  must  at  least  know  this  ele- 
mentary principle,  that  law  rules  the  living,  and  not  the  dead. 
The  apostle  might  have  cited  many  cases  where  this  principle 
is  applied  :  for  instance,  no  public  duties,  taxes,  etc.,  are  re- 
quired of  the  dead  ;  they  are  never  indicted  for  their  crimes, 
etc.;  but  he  chooses  one  illustration  which  peculiarly  fits  his 


350  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

argument,  for  it  throws  light  on  this  question  of  dominion,  viz.: 
the  release  from  the  law  of  marriage  which  is  accorded  to 
both  the  parties  to  a  matrimonial  contract,  when  death  releases 
one  of  them.  In  this  connection,  and  before  we  enter  upon 
Paul's  argument,  we  should  notice  the  principle  to  which  he 
appeals,  in  order  that  we  may  not  be  confused  by  his  appHca- 
tion  of  it.  It  is  the  party  who  dies  that  is  primarily  released  or 
freed  from  the  law,  and  hence  left  free  to  contract  a  second 
marriage.  The  party  who  survives  is,  of  course,  Hkewise  freed ; 
but  the  freedom  of  the  survivor  is  secondary,  and  derived  from 
the  freedom  of  the  deceased,  which  has  been  attained  by  death. 
If  the  living  only  we4-e  free,  and  the  deceased  were  bound  by 
the  marriage  contract,  the  apostle  would  have  nothing  on 
which  to  base  an  illustration  or  found  an  argument.]  3  So 
then  if,  while  the  husband  liveth,  she  be  joined  to 
another  man,  she  shall  be  called  an  adulteress  :  but  if 
the  husband  die,  she  is  free  from  the  law,  so  that  she 
is  no  adulteress,  though  she  be  joined  to  another  man. 
[If  such  freedom  is  accorded  to  the  survivor,  an  equal  liberty 
must  be  accorded  to  the  deceased.  But  this  liberty  can  not 
be  enjoyed  by  him  unless,  by  some  means,  he  be  raised  from 
the  dead.]  4  Wherefore,  my  brethren,  ye  also  were 
made  dead  to  the  law  through  the  body  of  Christ ;  that 
ye  should  be  joined  to  another,  even  to  him  who  was 
raised  from  the  dead,  that  we  might  bring  forth  fruit 
unto  God.  [While  the  marriage  lasts  the  husband  (law)  has 
headship  and  control  over  the  wife  (mankind).  But  death 
breaks  the  marriage  bond,  so  that  both  parties  are  thereby  at 
once  released  and  made  free  to  marry  again.  Put  the  Chris- 
tian occupies  the  position  of  the  deceased  party.  He  was 
united  to  Christ,  being  in  the  humanity  of  Christ;  and  being 
thus  in  Christ,  he  was,  as  it  were,  married  to  the  law,  for 
Christ  was  born  even  under  law  in  its  strict  Mosaic  form 
(Luke  2:  21-27 ;  Gal.  4: 4) ;  and  lived  subject  to  that  law 
(Matt.  5:  17,  18) ;  and  died  to  the  law  in  the  death  of  the 
cross  (Col.  2:  14).  Now  we,  being  united  to  Christ  in  all  this, 
are,  in  him  as  our  representative,  also  dead  to  the  law  (6:  6; 


CHANGE   OF  RELATIONSHIP  351 

Gal.  2:  19),  that  we  might,  as  one  freed  by  death  from  mar- 
riage to  the  law  (Ezek.  16:  8-38;  Jer.  2:  2  ;  3:  14),  be  at  liberty 
to  contract  the  second  marriage  with  and  to  the  risen  Christ, 
that  in  this  marriage  it  might  be  our  privilege  and  obligation 
not  to  obey  the  law,  but  to  bring  forth  fruit  unto  God.  The 
Christian,  enjoying  a  resurrection  in  Christ,  derives  untold 
benefit  from  a  well-recognized  legal  principle.  Ordinarily  the 
liberty  from  law  enjoyed  by  the  dead  is  of  no  practical  value  to 
them  ;  but  the  Christian  rising,  in  Christ  his  representative, 
from  the  dead,  is  free  from  law  and  espoused  to  Christ.]  5 
For  w^hen  we  were  in  the  flesh,  the  sinful  passions, 
which  were  through  the  law,  wrought  in  our  members 
to  bring  forth  fruit  unto  death.  6  But  now  we  have 
been  discharged  from  the  law,  having  died  to  that 
w^herein  we  w^ere  held ;  so  that  we  serve  in  newness 
of  the  spirit,  and  not  in  oldness  of  the  letter.  [These 
verses  set  forth  the  change  in  state  and  habit  which  results 
from  our  change  of  husbands,  or  the  different  fruitage  of  our 
lives,  as  suggested  in  verse  4.  As  Christians,  a  different 
fruitage  is  expected  from  that  which  our  lives  bore  under  the 
law ;  for  before  we  became  Christians,  when  we  were  governed 
by  our  fleshly  nature,  the  sinful  passions — passions  which 
prompted  us  to  gratify  them,  and  which  led  us  to  sin  if  we  did 
gratify  them,  and  which  we  discovered  to  be  sinful  by  means 
of  the  light  of  the  law — lusted  and  worked  in  our  bodily  mem- 
bers to  bring  forth  the  fruit  of  death :  but  now  we  are  released 
from  the  dominion  of  our  husband  (the  law),  having  severed 
the  tie  that  bound  us  to  him  by  dying  in  the  person  of  Christ, 
our  representative,  so  that  now  we  serve  God  with  our  new, 
regenerated  spirit  (an  inward  power),  and  not  in  the  old- 
fashioned  manner,  which  was  by  obedience  to  a  written  pre- 
cept (an  external  power).] 


352  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 


IV. 

THE  SENSE  OF  BONDAGE  WHICH  COMES 
THROUGH  THE  RELATIONSHIP  OF  THE 
LAW  PREPARES  THE  SOUL  TO  SEEK 
DELIVERANCE  THROUGH  RELA- 
TIONSHIP TO  CHRIST. 

T-  7-25. 

7  W^hat  shall  we  say  then  ?  Is  the  law  sin  ?  God 
forbid.  Howbeit,  I  had  not  known  sin,  except  through 
the  law  :  for  I  had  not  known  coveting,  except  the  law 
had  said  [Ex.  20:  17;  Deut.  5:  21],  Thou  shalt  not  covet: 
8  but  sin,  finding  occasion,  wrought  in  me  through 
the  commandment  all  manner  of  coveting:  for  apart 
from  law  sin  is  dead.  [Those  following  the  apostle  through 
the  last  section  would  be  apt  to  have  confused  views  concerning 
the  law,  which  would  lead  them  to  ask,  "If  it  is  such  a  blessed 
thing  to  be  free  from  the  law,  is  not  the  law  evil?  If  God 
took  as  much  pains  to  emancipate  us  from  the  law  as  he  did  to 
free  us  from  sin,  are  not  the  law  and  sin  equally  evil,  and  prac- 
tically synonymous,  so  that  we  can  truly  say.  The  law  is  sin?  " 
Not  at  all,  is  the  prompt  denial  of  the  apostle  ;  but  there  is  an 
apparent  ground  for  such  a  question,  for  the  law  is  an  occasion 
of  sin,  for  sin  is  not  sin  where  it  is  not  kjiown  to  be  sin,  and  ' 
in  the  law  lies  that  revelation  or  knowledge  of  sin  which  makes 
it  sinful,  so  that  I  had  not  experienced  the  sense  of  sin  except 
through  the  law.  For  example,  I  would  not  have  known  that 
inordinate  desire  for  the  property  of  others  was  a  sin  called 
coveting  if  the  law  had  not  defined  it,  and  made  it  a  desire 
after  the  forbidden,  and  hence  a  sinful  desire,  by  saying.  Thou 
shalt  not  covet.  But  when  the  law  thus  spake,  then  sin,  finding 
in  the  utterance  of  the  law  an  opportunity  or  occasion  to  assert 
itself,  stirred  me  up  to  desire  all  those  things  which  were  for- 
bidden by  the  law,  and  filled  me  with  the  sense  of  my  sinful- 
ness by  reason  of  the  revelation  of  the  law ;  for  without  this 


THE  SENSE   OF  BONDAGE  353 

revelation  the  sense  of  sin  would  have  been  dead  in  me.  With- 
out the  law  sin  was  not  roused  to  life  and  consciousness.]  9 
And  I  was  alive  apart  from  the  law  once  :  but  when  the 
commandment  came,  sin  revived,  and  I  died ;  10  and 
the  commandment,  which  was  unto  life,  this  I  found  to 
he  unto  death  :  11  for  sin,  finding  occasion,  through  the 
commandment  beguiled  me,  and  through  it  slew  me. 
12  So  that  the  law  is  holy,  and  the  commandment 
holy,  and  righteous,  and  good.  [In  the  days  of  his  youth 
(and  perhaps  also  even  in  his  young  manhood — Phil.  3:  6),  Paul 
had  that  free,  untroubled  conscience  which  is  enjoyed  by  the 
innocent,  and  felt  that  he  lived,  and  was  entitled  to  live,  before 
God ;  but  later,  as  to  its  fullest  extent  he  grasped  the  meaning 
of  the  law,  he  found  how  vain  was  his  confidence  ;  and  that  he 
was  really  a  condemned  man  in  the  sight  of  God,  having  no 
true  life  in  him  (6:  21-23),  being  dead  in  trespasses  and  sin. 
Thus  the  law  which  was  ordained  to  give  life,  and  had  the 
promise  of  life  attached  to  it  (10:  5  ;  Lev.  18:  5),  he  found,  to 
his  amazed  surprise,  to  be  to  him,  because  of  his  sinfulness, 
only  a  means  of  death  :  for  sin,  finding  in  the  law  a  golden 
opportunity  to  accomplish  his  ruin,  deceived  him  into  breaking 
the  law,  and,  by  thus  drawing  down  upon  him  the  curse  of  the 
violated  law,  slew  him.  It  has  been  observed  that  sin,  as  here 
personified,  occupies  the  place  filled  by  Satan  in  literal  life 
(Gen.  3:  14  ;  2  Cor.  11:  3).  Again  we  should  note  how  Satan, 
operating  on  the  sinful  nature  of  Paul,  beguiled  and  deceived 
him  into  supposing  that  he  could  obtain  righteousness  and  life 
by  keeping  the  Mosaic  law  (Phil.  3:  4-7),  and  also  into  thinking 
that  in  persecuting  Christians  he  was  doing  God  service  (Acts 
26:  9),  while  in  reality  he  was  making  himself  the  chief  of 
sinners  (i  Tim.  i:  15).  So,  clearing  the  law  of  this  doubt  which 
his  own  argument  had  raised,  the  apostle  declares  in  conclusion 
that  it  is  worthy  of  all  the  unquestioned  respect  and  confidence 
which  it  had  so  long  enjoyed  as  a  holy,  righteous  and  good  in- 
stitution of  God.]  13  Did  then  that  which  is  good  be- 
come death  unto  me?  God  forbid.  But  sin,  that  it 
might  be   shown  to  be  sin,  by  working  death  to  me 


354  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

through  that  which  is  good;— that  through  the  com- 
mandment sin  might  become  exceeding  sinful.  [Paul 
assumes  an  objection  suggested  by  the  word  "good,"  as  though 
some  one  said,  "Good?  do  you  mean  to  call  that  good  which 
works  death  in  you?"  and  Paul  replies.  Did  this  good  law 
really  work  death  in  me  ?  Not  at  all ;  sin  (and  not  law)  worked 
death  in  me.  And  God  ordained  it  thus  to  expose  sin  by 
letting  it  show  itself  as  something  so  detestable  that  it  could 
turn  even  so  good  a  thing  as  the  law  to  so  evil  a  purpose  as  to 
make  it  an  instrument  of  death;  that  is  to  say,  the  command- 
ment was  not  given  to  injure  me,  but  that  through  it  sin  might 
show  itself  to  be  exceeding  sinful.  God,  the  righteous,  causes 
evil  to  work  for  good  (Gen.  50:  20;  Rom.  8:  20) ;  but  sin,  the 
sinful,  causes  the  good  to  result  in  evil.]  14  For  we  know 
that  the  law  is  spiritual :  but  I  am  carnal,  sold  under 
sin.  15  For  that  which  I  do  I  know  not:  for  not  what 
I  would,  that  do  I  practise  ;  but  what  I  hate,  that  I  do. 
16  But  if  what  I  would  not,  that  I  do,  I  consent  unto 
the  law  that  it  is  good.  [But  the  law  can  not  be  sin,  for  it 
is  spiritual;  /.  e.,  it  is  of  divine  origin,  contains  divine  prin- 
ciples, and  is  addressed  to  the  divine  in  man ;  and  if  man  were 
as  he  should  be,  there  would  be  no  fault  found  with  the  law. 
But,  alas  !  we  are  not  as  we  should  be.  The  law  indeed  is 
spiritual,  but  I  (speaking  for  myself,  and  also  as  fairly  repre- 
sentative of  all  other  Christians)  am  not  wholly  spiritual,  but 
carnal,  and  sold  unto  sin;  i.  e.,  I  dwell  in  a  fleshly  body,  but 
have  all  the  weaknesses,  passions  and  frailties  that  flesh  is  heir 
to,  and  am,  consequently,  so  much  the  servant  of  sin  that  I  am 
as  one  sold  into  permanent  slavery  unto  it ;  so  that  as  long  as  I 
am  in  the  flesh  I  have  no  hope  to  be  wholly  free  from  it.  So 
much  is  this  the  case — so  much  am  I  a  slave  to  powers  that  con- 
trol me — that  I  act  as  one  distracted,  not  fully  knowing  nor  being 
conscious  of  the  thing  that  I  do  ;  for  my  actions  and  practise  are 
not  according  to  my  own  wishes,  which  follow  the  law  ;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  I  do  those  things  which  I  hate,  and  which  are 
contrary  to  the  law  ;  my  spiritual  nature  wishing  to  obey  the 
spiritual   law,  but  not  being  able,  because  blended  with  my 


THE  SENSE   OF  BONDAGE  355 

flesh  and  weakened  by  it.  But  if  I  do  the  things  contrary  to 
the  law,  at  the  same  time  wishing  to  do  as  the  law  directs,  I 
agree  with  the  law  that  it  is  right,  endorsing  it  by  my  wish, 
though  failing  to  honor  it  in  my  conduct.  My  own  conscious- 
ness, therefore,  belies  the  accusation  that  the  law  is  sin.]  17  So 
now  it  is  no  more  I  that  do  it,  but  sin  which  dwelleth 
in  me.  [From  what  I  have  said  it  is  apparent  that  it  is  not  my 
spiritual  or  better  self,  uninfluenced  by  the  flesh,  which  does 
the  evil ;  but  it  is  sin  which  dwells  in  my  flesh  that  does  it. 
If  I  were  left  to  my  spiritual  self,  uninfluenced  by  the  flesh,  I 
would  do  as  the  law  requires ;  but  sin  excites  and  moves  my 
fleshly  nature,  and  thus  prompts  me  to  break  the  law.  The 
apostle  is  not  arguing  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  he  is  7iot 
responsible  for  his  own  conduct ;  the  establishment  of  such  a 
fact  would  have  no  bearing  whatever  on  the  question  in  hand. 
He  is  arguing  that  the  law  is  good,  and  he  seeks  to  prove  this 
by  showing  that  his  better,  regenerated,  spiritual  nature  loves 
it,  and  strives  to  fulfill  it,  and  never  in  any  way  rebels  against 
it ;  and  that  any  seeming  rebellion  found  in  him  is  due  to  his 
fleshly,  sinful  nature — that  part  of  himself  which  he  himself 
repudiates  as  vile  and  unworthy,  and  which  he  would  fain  dis- 
own,] 18  For  I  know^  that  in  me,  that  is,  in  my  flesh, 
dwelleth  no  good  thing :  for  to  will  is  present  with  me, 
but  to  do  that  which  is  good  is  not.  19  For  the  good 
which  I  would  I  do  not :  but  the  evil  which  I  would 
not,  that  I  practise.  [I  am  not  surprised  that  part  of  me 
rebels  against  God's  law,  for  I  know  that  in  the  fleshly  part  of 
my  nature  dwells  no  good  thing.  Sin  dominates  my  flesh,  so 
that  none  of  the  tendencies  which  come  from  that  part  of  me 
incite  to  righteousness,  and  the  contrast  between  the  spiritual 
and  fleshly  parts  of  me  makes  me  painfully  conscious  of  this 
fact ;  for  on  the  spiritual  side  my  power  to  wish,  and  to  will  to 
do  right,  is  uncurbed  and  unlimited,  but  when  I  come  to  use 
the  fleshly  part  to  execute  my  will,  here  I  encounter  trouble, 
and  feel  my  limitation  ;  for  I  find  myself  hindered  by  the  flesh, 
and  unable,  because  of  it,  to  perform  the  right  which  I  have 
willed  and  wished.     Yea,  it  is  not  in  willing,  but  m  this  matter 


356  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

of  performance,  that  I  fail  to  keep  the  law;  for  though  I  wish 
to  do  good  I  can  not  compass  it,  and  though  I  do  not  wish  to 
do  evil  my  fleshly  nature  constrains  me  to  it  even  against  my 
wish.]  20  But  if  what  I  would  not,  that  I  do,  it  is  no 
more  I  that  do  it,  but  sin  which  dwelleth  in  me.  21  I 
find  then  the  law,  that,  to  me  who  would  do  good,  evil 
is  present.  [So  then,  I  say  again  that  I,  in  my  own  conscience, 
endorse  the  goodness  of  the  law,  for  my  spiritual  nature  wishes 
to  perform  its  dictates,  and  only  fails  to  do  so  because  over- 
borne by  my  fleshly  nature,  which  sin  has  such  power  to  in- 
fluence. I  find  it  then  to  be  the  rule  of  life,  regulating  my 
conduct,  that  though  I  always  want  to  do  good,  evil  is  ever 
present  with  me,  because  I  am  in  the  flesh,  which  is  never 
without  evil  influences.  The  presence  of  the  flesh  is  the  pres- 
ence of  evil,  and  since  I  can  not  rid  myself  of  the  one,  neither 
can  I  of  the  other.]  22  For  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God 
after  the  inward  man :  23  but  I  see  a  different  law  in 
my  members,  warring  against  the  law  of  my  mind, 
and  bringing  me  into  captivity  under  the  l^w  of  sin 
which  is  in  my  members.  [And  such  a  state  of  conflict  is 
unavoidable  ;  for,  in  my  spiritual  and  intellectual  nature,  I  not 
only  approve,  but  actually  delight  in,  the  law  of  God,  so  that  I 
eagerly  and  heartily  wish  to  perform  its  requirements,  that  I 
may  be  righteous  ;  but  when  it  comes  to  performance,  I  find  a 
law  within  my  flesh  operating  its  members,  antagonistic  to  that 
law  of  God  which  my  intellect  approves,  and  warring  against 
it,  and  sometimes  overcoming  my  allegiance  to  it,  and  bringing 
me  into  captivity  to  the  sinful  law  which  influences  my  flesh.] 
24  Wretched  man  that  I  am  !  who  shall  deliver  me  out 
of  the  body  of  this  death?  25  I  thank  God  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  So  then  I  of  myself  with  the 
mind,  indeed,  serve  the  law  of  God ;  but  with  the  flesh 
the  law  of  sin.  [Wretched  or  toil-worn  man  that  I  am, 
living  in  a  state  of  perpetual  warfare,  now  struggling  to  main- 
tain my  freedom  under  God's  law,  and  anon  led  captive  in 
spite  of  myself,  and  brought  under  the  hard  service  of  sin;  who 
shall  deliver  me  from  this  scene  of  warfare,  from  this  fleshly, 


THE  SENSE   OF   BONDAGE  ZbV 

sinful  nature  which  is  condemning  me  to  eternal  death? 
Through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  I  render  thanksgiving  unto  God 
my  Deliverer.  So  then,  in  conclusion,  with  my  mind  or  higher 
faculties  I  serve  always  the  revealed  will  of  God,  and  when, 
occasionally,  I  serve  the  law  of  sin,  I  do  so,  not  with  my  mind, 
but  because  of  the  influences  of  my  fleshly  nature.  The  whole 
passage  shows  the  helplessness  of  man  under  any  form  of  law. 
Law  does  not  change  his  nature,  and  hence  law  can  not  save 
him  from  himself.  But  God,  in  his  dispensation  of  grace,  pro- 
vides for  the  change  of  man's  nature,  so  that  the  sinful  in  him 
shall  be  eliminated,  and  his  spiritual,  regenerate  nature  shall 
be  left  free  to  serve  God  in  righteousness.] 

V. 

THE  NEW  RELATIONSHIP  TO  CHRIST  CHANGES 

THE   MIND    FROM    CARNAL   TO    SPIRITUAL, 

SO  THAT   WE  ESCAPE   CONDEMNATION 

AND   OBTAIN   LIFE. 

8:  i-ii. 

[This  chapter  describes,  as  Meyer  says,  "the  happy  con- 
dition of  a  man  in  Christ,"  and  is,  as  Tholuck  observes,  "the 
climax  of  this  Epistle."]  1  There  is  therefore  now  no 
condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus.  2  For 
the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  made  me  free 
from  the  law  of  sin  and  of  death.  [From  all  that  I  have 
written,  it  is  a  just  conclusion  that,  under  Christ,  we  are  so  fully 
justified  from  sin  that  those  who  are  in  him  shall  stand  uncon- 
demned  at  the  last  judgment,  since  there  is  now  no  ground  for 
their  condemnation.  For  the  gospel,  or  law,  given  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  who  is  the  spirit  of  life,  has  made  me  free  from 
law  (whether  given  by  Moses  or  otherwise)  which  produces  sin 
and  death.  Laws  which  can  not  be  obeyed  result  in  sin,  and 
sin  ends  in  death.]  3  For  what  the  law  could  not  do,  in 
that  it  was  weak  through  the  flesh,  God,  sending  his 
own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  and  for  sin, 

24 


358  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

condemned  sin  in  the  flesh:  4  that  the  ordinance  of 
the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not  after 
the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.  [For  what  the  law  could 
not  possibly  do  (viz.:  condemn  sin  in  the  flesh,  so  as  to  destroy 
it  and  free  us  from  it),  because  the  flesh  through  which  it 
operated  was  too  weak,  God,  by  sending  his  own  Son  in  the 
likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin,  did ;  that  is  to  say,  he  con- 
demned sin  in  the  flesh,  that  justification  from  the  law  might 
be  accomplished  in  us  who  walk  not  according  to  the  flesh,  but 
according  to  the  Spirit.  Though  the  law  was  designed  to  con- 
demn and  banish  sin,  and  was  in  itself  a  perfect  means  of  de- 
liverance from  sin  and  death  to  those  who  kept  it,  it  was  really, 
because  of  the  sinful  weakness  of  the  human  race,  to  which  it 
was  given,  no  means  of  deliverance  at  all,  but  a  source  of 
complete  and  perfect  condemnation.  Hence,  some  other  de- 
liverance became  necessary.  God  provided  this  other  means 
of  salvation  by  sending  his  Son  to  die  for  man,  and  man's  sin. 
That  he  might  do  this,  God  sent  his  Son  to  become  a  fleshly 
human  being,  to  be  incarnate  in  the  same  kind  of  flesh  as  that 
belonging  to  the  rest  of  sinful  mankind,  thus  fully  sharing  their 
nature.  He  sent  him  in  this  manner  for  the  purpose  of  dying, 
to  remove  all  the  sin  of  the  flesh  he  bore  thus  representatively, 
no  matter  by  whom  committed.  Jesus,  by  his  sinless  life,  lived 
in  the  flesh,  as  the  Son  of  man,  resisted,  conquered,  condemned, 
sentenced,  and  destroyed  the  power  of  sin  in  the  flesh.  Thus 
God  sent  his  Son  as  a  conqueror  of  sin,  and  as  an  offering  for  sin, 
that  the  ordinance  of  the  law,  which  we  fail  to  fulfill,  might,  by 
him  who  bore  our  flesh,  and  was  our  federal  head  and  represent- 
ative, be  fulfilled  in  us  who  walk  not  according  to  the  outward, 
fleshly  nature,  which  lusts  to  do  wrong,  but  after  the  inward, 
spiritual  nature,  which  desires  to  do  right.]  5  For  they  that 
are  after  the  flesh  mind  the  things  of  the  flesh ;  but 
they  that  are  after  the  Spirit  the  things  of  the  Spirit, 
[For  they  that  live  carnal  lives  indulge  the  lustful,  evil  desires 
of  the  flesh ;  but  they  that  five  after  the  Spirit  set  their  minds 
on  those  heavenly  things  of  the  present  and  future  which  are 
revealed  to  man  by  the  Spirit.     Those  who  daily  strive  to  lead 


NEW  RELATIONSHIP    TO    CHRIST        359 

the  latter  life  may  hopefully  look  to  God  to  forgive  their  short- 
coming and  temporary  failure.]  6  For  the  mind  of  the 
flesh  is  death  ;  but  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  is  life  and 
peace  [Those  who  give  themselves  up  to  carnality,  so  that 
their  minds  take  that  general  view  of  the  affairs  of  life,  shall 
reap  death ;  but  those  who  cultivate  the  thoughts  and  ideals  of 
the  Spirit,  so  that  His  mind  governs  the  view  of  life,  shall  find 
great  peace  in  their  present  lives,  and  hereafter  life  everlasting]: 
7  because  the  mind  of  the  flesh  is  enmity  against 
God ;  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither 
indeed  can  it  be :  8  an4  they  that  are  in  the  flesh  can- 
not please  God.  9  But  ye  are  not  in  the  flesh  but  in 
the  Spirit,  if  so  be  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in 
you.  But  if  any  man  hath  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he 
is  none  of  his.  10  And  if  Christ  is  in  you,  the  body  is 
dead  because  of  sin  ;  but  the  spirit  is  life  because  of 
righteousness.  [That  the  fleshly  mind  leads  to  death  is  ob- 
vious, for  the  mind  of  the  flesh  is  opposed  to  the  God  of  life, 
since  it  is  not  only  not  subject  to  him,  but  can  not  become 
subject  to  him :  so  they  that  cherish  it  can  not  please  him. 
The  mind  of  man  must  be  changed  from  carnal  to  spiritual, 
and  he  must  cease  to  serve  the  flesh  before  he  can  serve  God. 
But  ye  Roman  Christians  are  not  carnally,  but  spiritually 
minded,  if  indeed  ye  are  truly  regenerate,  so  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  dwells  in  you.  If  ye  have  not  the  Holy  Spirit  who  pro- 
ceeds from  Christ,  ye  are  not  regenerate,  ye  are  not  his.  And 
though  Christ  dwells  in  you  (representatively  by  means  of  his 
Spirit),  your  body  is  doomed  to  natural  death  (and  hence  is  to 
be  accounted  as  already  dead)  because  of  (Adam's)  sin  ;  yet 
your  spirit  lives  because  it  is  justified  and  accounted  righteous 
(by  reason  of  Christ).]  11  But  if  the  Spirit  of  him  that 
raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead  dwelleth  in  you,  he  that 
raised  up  Christ  Jesus  from  the  dead  shall  give  life 
also  to  your  mortal  bodies  through  his  Spirit  that 
dwelleth  in  you.  [Moreover,  if  the  Spirit  of  the  Father 
(z.  e.,  the  Holy  Spirit)  who  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead 
dwells  in  you,  then  he  that  raised  up  Christ  Jesus  from  the 


360  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

dead  shall  also  make  alive  your  mortal  bodies  through  his  Holy 
Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  you;  i.  e.,  if  God  employs  the  same 
agency,  we  may  expect  the  same  results,  and  hence  we  may 
look  for  him  to  raise  us  from  the  dead  by  the  indwelling  Holy 
Spirit,  just  as  he  raised  Christ  from  the  dead  by  that  same  in- 
dwelling Spirit.] 

VI. 

THE   NEW  RELATIONSHIP   TO   CHRIST   RESULTS 

IN   ADOPTION,    THE    SPIRIT    OF   ADOPTION, 

AND   THAT    HEIRSHIP    FOR    WHICH 

CREATION   GROANS. 

8:  12-25. 

12  So  then,  brethren,  we  are  debtors,  not  to  the 
flesh,  to  live  after  the  flesh :  13  for  if  ye  live  after  the 
flesh,  ye  must  die  ;  but  if  by  the  Spirit  ye  put  to  death 
the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall  live.  [So  then,  brethren, 
because  of  the  relation  which  we  sustain  to  Christ,  and  because 
of  the  opposite  effects  of  living  fleshly  and  spiritual  lives,  we, 
though  free  from  the  law,  are  under  no  obligation  to  be  law- 
less, and  to  live  after  the  flesh :  for  if  ye  so  live  ye  must  pay 
the  penalty  of  such  a  course  by  dying;  but  if,  by  the  exercise 
of  your  will,  and  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  ye  put  an  end  to 
the  sinful  practices  of  your  fleshly  nature,  ye  shall  live.  The 
testimony  of  Christian  experience  is  that  the  aid  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  though  real  and  effectual,  is  not  so  obtrusive  as  to  enable 
the  one  aided  to  take  sensible  notice  of  it.  To  all  appearance 
and  sensation  the  victory  over  flesh  is  entirely  the  Christian's 
own,  and  he  recognizes  the  aid  of  the  Spirit,  not  because  his 
burdens  are  sensibly  lightened,  but  because  of  the  fact  that  in 
his  efforts  to  do  right  he  now  succeeds  where  lately  he  failed. 
The  success,  moreover,  though  habitual,  is  not  invariable,  for 
invariable  victory  over  temptation  breeds  self-consciousness 
and  self-righteousness,  and  other  sins  perhaps  more  dangerous 
than  the  ordinary  lusts  of  the  flesh.]     14  For  as  many  as 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  ADOPTION  361 

are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  these  are  the  sons  of  God. 

[To  mortify  the  flesh  is  to  be  led  of  the  Spirit,  and  to  be  led  of 
the  Spirit  is  to  be  a  son  of  God  ;  for,  though  all  in  the  church 
claim  this  sonship,  the  claim  is  only  demonstrated  to  be  genuine 
in  the  case  of  those  who  are  led  of  the  Spirit.  The  Spirit  leads 
both  externally  and  internally.  Externally,  the  Spirit  supplies 
the  gospel  truth  as  set  forth  in  the  New  Testament,  and  the 
rules  and  precepts  therein  found  are  for  the  instruction  and 
guidance  of  God's  children.  Internally,  the  Spirit  aids  by 
ministering  strength  and  comfort  to  the  disciple  in  his  effort  to 
conform  to  the  revealed  truth  and  will  of  God.]  15  For  ye 
received  not  the  spirit  of  bondage  again  unto  fear ;  but 
ye  received  the  spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  we  cry, 
Abba,  Father.  [That  ye  are  the  sons  of  God  is  apparent,  as 
I  say,  because  of  the  Spirit  which  leads  and  animates  you,  and 
which  changes  your  own  spirit.  For,  in  your  unsaved,  unre- 
generate  state  you  had  a  spirit  of  bondage,  leading  you  to  fear 
God,  and  his  wrath  ;  but  when  ye  were  baptized,  and  became 
regenerate,  ye  received  a  different  spirit;  viz.:  the  spirit  of 
adoption  or  sonship,  which  dispels  fear,  and  causes  you,  with 
confident  gladness,  to  approach  and  address  God  as  your  Abba 
(which  is,  being  interpreted.  Father).]  16  The  Spirit  him- 
self be.areth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  chil- 
dren of  God:  17  and  if  children,  then  heirs  ;  heirs  of 
God,  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ;  if  so  be  that  we 
suffer  with  him,  that  we  may  be  also  glorified  with 
him.  [In  interpreting  this  passage  we  should  remember  that 
Paul  is  speaking  to  those  already  converted.  Hence,  in  these 
and  in  the  preceding  verses,  he  is  not  telling  them  how  to  be- 
come children  of  God,  but  how  to  continue  such.  Now,  it  is 
true  that  the  Spirit  lays  down  the  terms  by  which  we  may  be- 
come Christians,  and  if  we  obey  these  terms,  then  both  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  our  own  spirits  testify  that  we  are  sons  of  God. 
But  since  Paul  is  not  addressing  converts,  such  an  interpreta- 
tion would  be  wide  of  his  thought,  which  is  this :  If  the  Holy 
Spirit  indeed  leads  us  in  a  conflict  with  sin  and  a  steady  effort 
towards  righteousness,  and  if  we  submit  to  be  thus  led,  then 


362  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

the  Holy  Spirit  unites  with  our  spirit  to  testify  that  we  are 
God's  children.  The  testimony  is,  of  course,  self-directed ; 
i.  e.y  the  testimony  is  for  the  purpose  of  assuring  and  confirming 
our  own  faith.  If  we  are  led,  we  know  it,  and  so  our  own 
spirit  testifies  to  us.  If  we  are  led  i?i  the  godly,  spiritual 
path,  it  can  be  none  other  than  the  Holy  Spirit  who  leads;  and 
so,  in  the  very  act  of  leading,  the  Spirit  testifies  to  us.  And, 
lastly,  if  we  are  led,  and  if  we  follow,  this  union  of  our  spirit 
and  God's  Spirit  in  joint  action  proves  us  children  of  God  ;  for 
our  co-operation  with  God  in  this  paternal  government  of  his 
shows  us  accepted  of  him  as  his  children.  But  we  can  not  be 
children  in  this  one  respect  of  government  without  being  chil- 
dren also  in  the  other  respect  of  heirship.  We  are,  therefore, 
God's  heirs,  joint-heirs  with  his  only  begotten  Son,  provided 
that  we  are  truly  led  of  the  Spirit  as  he  was,  which  we  may 
readily  test,  for  the  Spirit  led  him  through  suffering  to  glory, 
and  should  lead  us  by  the  same  pathway,  if  we  are  to  enjoy 
somewhat  of  the  same  glory.]  18  For  I  reckon  that  the 
sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be 
compared  with  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed  to 
US-ward.  19  For  the  earnest  expectation  of  the  cre- 
ation waiteth  for  the  revealing  of  the  sons  of  God. 
[Though  the  life  in  the  spirit  may  involve  us  in  sufferings,  yet 
we  are  encouraged  to  bear  them;  for  the  sufferings  are  merely 
for  the  present  time,  and  are  insignificant  when  compared  with 
the  glory  toward  which  they  lead,  which  shall  be  revealed  in 
us,  and  upon  us,  at  the  time  of  our  resurrection.  And  this 
glory  must  indeed  be  as  large  as  we  imagine,  for  even  creation 
itself  waits  in  eager  expectancy  for  this  coming  day,  when  the 
redeemed  in  Christ  shall  be  revealed  and  manifested  before  all 
to  be  indeed  the  children  of  God.  There  is  much  argument  as 
to  what  Paul  means  by  "creation."  From  the  context,  we 
take  it  that  he  means  the  earth  and  all  the  life  upon  it  except 
humanity.]  20  For  the  creation  was  subjected  to  vanity, 
not  of  its  own  will,  but  by  reason  of  him  who  subjected 
it,  in  hope  21  that  the  creation  itself  also  shall  be  de- 
livered from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  liberty 


THE  SPIRIT   OF  ADOPTION  363 

of  the  glory  of  the  children  of  God.  22  For  we  know- 
that  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain 
together  until  now.  [And  creation  thus  waits;  for  at  and 
by  reason  of  the  fall  of  man,  it  became  subject  to  frailty;  i.  e., 
it  also  fell  from  its  original  design  and  purpose,  and  became 
abortive,  diminutive,  imperfect,  and  subject  to  premature  decay. 
And  this  it  did  not  do  of  its  own  accord,  but  because  the  will 
of  God  ordered  that  it  should  be  thus  altered  (Gen.  3:  17,  18) ; 
not  leaving  it,  however,  without  hope  that  it  also  should  so  far 
share  in  the  redemption  of  the  sons  of  God  as  not  only  to  be 
delivered  from  the  bondage  of  being  corruptible,  to  which  God 
subjected  it,  but  also  to  be  transferred  to  the  liberty  which 
results  from  or  accompanies  the  revelation  or  glorification  of 
the  sons  of  God.  And  this  hopeful  waiting  is  evident,  for  we 
Christians  know  that  God  designs  to  make  all  things  new  (2 
Pet.  3:  13  ;  Rev.  21:  i,  5),  and  also  that  the  whole  creation  so 
shares  man's  deterioration  and  degradation  that  with  him  it 
groans,  and  has,  as  it  were,  the  pains  of  childbirth,  even  to 
this  hour.  The  figure  of  childbirth  is  appropriate,  since  nature 
wishes  to  reproduce  herself  in  a  new,  fresh  and  better  form, 
corresponding  to  that  which  she  had  before  the  fall  of  man.] 
23  And  not  only  so,  but  ourselves  also,  who  have  the 
first-fruits  of  the  Spirit,  even  we  ourselves  groan 
within  ourselves,  waiting  for  our  adoption,  to  wit,  the 
redemption  of  our  body.  [And  not  only  do  we  recognize 
this  vast,  unuttered  longing  of  nature,  but  we  find  similar 
groanings  even  within  ourselves,  though  occupying  a  much 
more  privileged  and  advantageous  position  than  nature,  having, 
in  the  firstfruits  of  the  Spirit,  an  earnest  or  inspiring  foretaste 
of  the  good  things  to  come,  and  yet,  despite  our  advantage,  so 
exceedingly  desirable  is  the  glory  yet  to  be  revealed,  that  even 
we  ourselves  groan  within  ourselves  because  of  those  parts 
wherein  we  are  nearest  akin  to  the  material  creation,  waiting 
for  the  time  to  come  when  we  shall  be  openly  revealed  as  the 
adopted  children  of  God,  by  those  changes  which  culminate  in 
that  transformation  brought  about  by  the  resurrection — when 
our  mortal,  corruptible,  weak,  dishonored,  natural  body  shall 


364  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

be  transfigured  into  the  immortal,  incorruptible,  powerful, 
glorified,  spiritual  liody,  thus  accomplishing  the  redemption  of 
the  body.]  24  For  in  hope  were  we  saved :  but  hope 
that  is  seen  is  not  hope :  for  who  hopeth  for  that 
which  he  seeth?  25  But  if  we  hope  for  that  which 
we  see  not,  then  do  w^e  with  patience  wait  for  it.  [We 
groan,  I  say,  waiting  for  this  future  blessing.  For  when  we 
were  converted  and  saved  from  the  world,  we  were  not  so 
saved  that  all  salvation  includes  was  bestowed  upon  us;  but  we 
were  saved  unto  a  salvation  which  even  yet  exists  largely  in 
hope.  If  it  were  otherwise,  we  would  now  see  the  things 
which  we  still  hope  for.  But  when  hope  is  attained  it  ceases 
to  be  hope,  for  hope  applies  only  to  the  unattained,  not  to  the 
attained.  But  if  our  full  salvation  is  not  yet  seen  or  attained, 
then  should  we  patiently  wait  for  its  attainment,  which  will  be 
accomplished  when  we  are  at  last  revealed  as  God's  children.] 


VII. 

THE  NEW  RELATIONSHIP   RESULTS  IN  THE  AID 
OF   THE    SPIRIT,    AND    IN   BLISSFUL   ASSUR- 
ANCE  OF    SALVATION,    BECAUSE    IT   IS 
DIVINELY   DECREED. 

8:  26-39. 

26  And  in  like  manner  the  Spirit  also  helpeth  our 
infirmity :  for  we  know  not  how  to  pray  as  we  ought ; 
but  the  Spirit  himself  maketh  intercession  for  us  with 
groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered  [And  not  only  are 
we  encouraged  by  the  sympathetic  groaning  of  creation,  and 
our  well-grounded  hopes  to  wait  patiently  ior  deliverance  and 
glorification,  but  we  are  also  in  like  manner  aided  in  doing  so 
by  the  ministration  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  helps  us  in  our 
weakness,  especially  in  obtaining  the  strength,  patience,  etc., 
necessary  to  enable  us  to  endure  faithfully  until  the  hour  of  our 
deliverance   arrives.     And  we  require  such  help,  for,  left  to 


THE  AID    OF   THE   SPIRIT  365 

ourselves,  we  would  fail  to  ask  for  these  things  which  we  need, 
and  would  spend  our  time  and  strength  asking  for  those  things 
which  we  do  not  need  ;  for  we  are  not  wise  enough  to  pray  for 
the  things  which,  considering  our  real,  present  weakness,  we 
ought  to  pray  for.  But  the  Spirit  knows  these  needful  things, 
and  he  affords  a  remedy  for  our  weakness  by  himself  inter- 
ceding for  us,  not  praying  independently,  or  apart  from  us,  but 
moving  and  exalting  us  in  our  prayer,  and  stirring  within  us 
sighings,  longings,  aspirations  and  soulful  yearnings  for  those 
things  which  are  our  real  needs,  but  which  are  so  poorly  under- 
stood by  us  that  we  can  not  adequately  express  them  in  words]  ; 
27  and  he  that  searcheth  the  hearts  knoweth  what  is 
the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  because  he  maketh  intercession 
for  the  saints  according  to  the  will  of  God.  [Though  we, 
in  our  ignorance,  do  not  know  how  to  express  these  inward 
groanings,  or  yearnings,  and  though  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  his 
operations  within  us,  can  not  so  lead  or  train  us  as  to  make  us 
able  to  give  them  articulate  utterance,  yet  God,  who  searcheth 
the  heart,  or  that  inner  man  where  the  Spirit  dwells,  knows 
what  it  is  that  the  Spirit  has  in  mind  ;  /.  e.,  what  the  Spirit  is 
prompting  us  to  desire,  because  the  Spirit  pleads  for  the  saints 
according  to  the  will  of  God,  asking  those  things  which  accord 
with  the  plans,  purposes  and  desires  of  God.  "In  short,"  says 
Beet,  "our  own  yearnings,  resulting  as  they  do  from  the 
presence  of  the  Spirit,  are  themselves  a  pledge  of  their  own 
realization."  The  remainder  of  the  chapter  gives  the  third 
ground  of  encouragement,  which  is  briefly  this:  the  Christian 
has  nothing  to  fear  (outside  of  himself),  for  nothing  can  defeat 
the  plan  or  purpose  which  God  cherishes  toward  him,  and 
nothing  can  separate  him  from  the  love  of  God.]  28  And  we 
know  that  to  them  that  love  God  all  things  work  to- 
gether for  good,  even  to  them  that  are  called  according 
to  his  purpose.  [In  addition  to  the  encouragements  already 
mentioned,  there  is  this :  We  know  (partly  by  experience,  but 
primarily  by  revelation)  that  all  these  present  ills,  hardships, 
adversities,  afflictions,  etc.,  are  so  overruled  of  God  as  to  be 
made  to  combine  to  produce  the  permanent  and  eternal  ad- 


366  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

vantage  and  welfare  of  those  who  love  God,  even,  I  say,  to 
those  who  love  God,  or  who  may  otherwise  be  described  as 
those  that  are  called  according  to  his  purpose.  "All  things" 
evidently  refers  to  all  that  class  of  events  which  threaten  to  result 
in  evil.  The  phrase  evidently  is  not  to  be  pressed,  for  it  can 
hardly  include  sin  or  any  other  thing  which  injures  the  soul. 
The  apostle  himself,  in  verses  35-39,  fully  describes  what  he 
means  by  "all  things."  "The  love  of  believers  for  God,"  says 
Lange,  "is  not  the  ground  of  their  confidence,  but  the  sign 
and  security  that  they  were  first  loved  of  Gccl."  The  gospel 
reveals  God's  purpose  to  redeem,  justify  and  glorify  those  who 
believe  in  Jesus.  Those  who  accept  this  gospel  through  belief 
in  Jesus  are  truly  called  of  God  according  to  the  purpose  for 
which  he  extended  the  call.  Paul  does  not  regard  unbelievers 
as  thus  called,  as  the  context  shows,  for  the  other  descriptive 
clause  which  he  here  applies  to  the  "called"  (viz.:  "those  who 
love  God")  would  not  be  applicable  to  unbelievers.  Therefore 
the  two  clauses  taken  together  show  that  Paul  is  simply  speak- 
ing of  Christians,  or  those  who  have  heard  the  gospel,  and  have 
accepted  it,  and  have  been  saved  by  it.  All  such  know  as- 
suredly that  God  will  direct  the  events  of  life  so  that  they  shall 
result  in  good  to  those  called  according  to  his  purpose  ;  for  his 
purpose  is  of  such  import,  such  magnitude,  such  eternal  fixed- 
ness and  perennial  vitality,  etc.,  as  to  be  a  guarantee  that  God 
will  permit  no  temporal  accidentals  to  thwart  it.]  29  For 
whom  he  foreknew,  he  also  foreordained  to  he  con- 
formed to  the  image  of  his  Son,  that  he  might  be  the 
firstborn  among  many  brethren :  30  and  whom  he  fore- 
ordained, them  he  also  called:  and  whom  he  called, 
them  he  also  justified :  and  whom  he  justified,  them 
he  also  glorified.  [The  keyword  which  opens  the  hidden 
meaning  of  these  two  verses  is  the  word  purpose,  found  in  verse 
28.  Before  man  was  created  God  foresaw  his  fall,  and  de- 
signed the  gospel  for  his  redemption ;  this  fact  is  well  attested 
by  Scripture  (16:25,  26;  i  Cor.  2:7;  Eph.  1:8;  3:9;  Col.  i: 
25,  26).  In  those  times  eternal,  man,  the  gospel,  justification, 
etc.,  existed  only  in  the  purpose  of  God  ;   and  it  is  of  these 


THE  AID   OF   7  HE  SPIRIT  ^6/ 

times  and  conditions  that  the  apostle  speaks,  showing  how  God 
foreknew  that  a  certain  class  yet  to  be  born  would  accept  of  a 
salvation  yet  to  be  provided  through  the  terms  of  a  gospel  yet 
to  be  made  actual.  As  to  this  class  he  foreordained,  or  fore- 
decreed,  that  they  should,  after  the  resurrection,  bear  the 
image  or  likeness  of  his  Son,  that  the  Son  might  have  the  pre- 
eminence of  being  the  firstborn  (from  the  dead)  among  many 
brethren.  And  this  class,  whom  in  his  purpose  he  thus  fore- 
ordained, them  likewise  in  his  purpose  he  also  called  justified 
and  glorified  by  successive  steps,  not  actually,  but  in  his  pur- 
pose. Thus  the  apostle  is  speaking  not  of  actual  decrees, 
calls,  justifications,  etc.,  on  the  part  of  God,  but  of  such  as 
existing  only  in  divine  contemplation  and  purpose.  So,  also,  he 
is  not  speaking  of  actual,  called,  etc.,  persons,  but  imaginary, 
ideal  persons,  who  existed  as  yet  only  as 'a  class  in  the  councils 
or  purposes  of  the  Almighty ;  and  Paul's  design  is  not  to  show 
the  foreordination  of  any  individuals,  but  to  substantiate  the 
assurance  of  verse  28,  by  emphasizing  the  far-reaching  purposes 
of  God,  which  will  not  suffer  afflictions,  hardships,  or  any  of 
the  trivialities  of  time,  to  frustrate  him  in  working  out  his  eternal 
plans.  That  he  is  not  speaking  of  actualities  is  shown  by  the 
last  term  in  his  sequence,  viz.  :  "glorified."  Since  t-he  apostle 
is  speaking  cf  what  transpired  in  the  councils  of  the  Almighty 
prior  to  the  creation  of  man,  he  properly  uses  the  past  tense : 
"glorified  ;"  but  if  he  were  speaking  of  actuality,  he  would  be 
compelled  to  use  the  future  tense,  to  accord  with  conditions  as 
stated  in  verse  18,  where  he  clearly  recognizes  the  glorification 
of  man  as  a  future  event  for  which  he*  waits.  Thus  it  is  ap- 
parent that  the  foreordination  set  forth  in  these  two  verses  is 
purely  hypothetical.]  31  What  then  shall  we  say  to  these 
things?  If  God  is  for  us,  who  is  against  us?  [What 
conclusion,  then,  are  we  warranted  in  drawing  from  this  definite 
and  eternal  purpose  of  God  ?  If  he  be  thus  for  us,  are  we  not 
right  in  saying  that  all  things  shall  work  together  for  our  good, 
for  what  is  there  that  can  work  otherwise  in  successful  oppo- 
sition to  God  ?]  32  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but 
delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  also  with 


368  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

him  freely  give  us  all  things  ?  [This  verse  is  an  answer, 
and  more  than  an  answer,  to  the  question  just  asked.  In  it 
the  negative  and  positive  sides  of  God's  actions  are  suggested, 
but  not  fully  developed.  The  full  thought  may  be  thus  ex- 
pressed :  To  bring  for  his  redeemed  good  out  of  all  things  may 
entail  many  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  God — sacrifices  which  he 
might  well  regret  to  make  on  account  of  love  for  the  thing 
sacrificed,  and  others  which  he  might  well  withhold  for  lack  of 
love  towards  the  parties  for  whom  the  sacrifice  is  made.  But 
what  God  has  already  done  in  accomplishing  his  eternal  pur- 
pose is  a  guarantee  that  he  will  continue  to  do  whatever  more 
may  be  required.  If  he  spared  not  his  own  Son,  he  will  not 
halt  at  making  any  other  sacrifice  ;  neither  value  nor  precious- 
ness  can  cause  him  to  withhold  what  we  need.  Again,  our 
unworthiness  and  insignificance  form  no  obstacle  to  the  out- 
pouring of  his  most  marvelous  gifts;  for  if  God  delivered  up  his 
own  Son  for  us  (while  we  were  yet  sinners),  will  he  not  now  even 
more  willingly  and  freely,  to  the  gift  of  his  Son,  add  all  other 
gifts  which  lead  to  or  consummate  our  glorification?  In  short, 
nothing  but  our  own  act  of  apostasy  can  cause  us  to  fail  of  our 
inheritance.]  33  Who  shall  lay  anything  to  the  charge 
of  God's  elect?  It  is  God  that  justifieth ;  34  who  is 
he  that  condemneth  ?  It  is  Christ  Jesus  that  died,  yea 
rather,  that  was  raised  from  the  dead,  who  is  at  the 
right  hand  of  God,  who  also  maketh  intercession  for 
us.  ["But,  Paul,"  says  some  doubting  heart,  "surely  there 
are  ten  thousand  things  which  will  come  to  light  to  do  us  harm 
in  the  all-revealing  hour  of  the  judgment.  It  can  not  be  that 
all  these  things  shall  then  work  us  good."  The  apostle  replies 
that  these  things  will,  at  that  time,  certainly  work  us  no  evil, 
for  in  that  august  hour  when  all  of  all  nations  shall  be  called  to 
give  account  before  the  throne  of  Christ  the  Judge,  who  is  it 
that  shall  lay  any  charge  against  those  whom  the  Father  has 
chosen  because  of  their  faith  in  Christ  and  obedience  to  him? 
How  could  any  one  presume  to  attempt  any  such  thing  ?  or 
what  difTercnce  would  it  make  if  he  did  attempt  it?  for  it  is 
the  Father  himself  who  speaks  to  the  contrary,  declaring  that 


THE  AID    OF   THE  SPIRIT  369 

the  sins  of  those  who  beHeve  on  Jesus  are  forgiven,  and  that 
they  are  justified  in  Jesus.  Thus  Christians  shall  be  safe  during 
the  hearing  ;  but  when  the  hearing  is  closed,  and  the  fate  of 
each  rests  in  the  hands  of  the  Judge,  then  shall  they  be  equally 
safe  as  to  the  final  sentence.  Who  shall  condemn  them  ? 
There  is  but  one  who  has  the  power  to  do  this,  and  that  one  is 
the  Judge ;  and  the  Judge  is  none  other  than  Christ  Jesus,  who 
died  to  expiate  our  sins,  lest  they  should  condemn  us ;  who 
was  raised  for  our  justification;  who  was  enthroned  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  to  rule  for  our  sakes,  and  to  judge  us  ;  and 
who  even  now  pleads  as  our  intercessor  against  our  condemna- 
tion. Surely  the  past  and  present  attitudes  of  Christ  towards 
us  guarantee  his  future  conduct,  and  confirm  us  in  the  con- 
fidence that  he,  the  unchangeable,  will  acquit  us  in  that  hour, 
and  save  us  from  the  condemnation  against  which  he  has  made 
such  ample  preparation  and  provision.  So  far  as  the  Father  is 
concerned,  the  cause  of  man  is  settled  and  sealed,  for  he  has 
committed  judgment  to  the  Son.  Whatever  contingency  there 
is,  lies,  therefore,  in  the  bosom  of  the  Son.  He  has  made  the 
sacrifice,  and  accomplished  the  work  necessary  to  acquit  man 
at  the  judgment ;  but  as  his  decree  and  sentence  are  not  yet 
spoken,  it  is,  of  course,  contingent.  Will  he  change  his  mind, 
and  condemn  man  ?  The  apostle  answers  this  question  by 
asking  another.]  35  Who  shall  separate  us  from  the 
love  of  Christ?  shall  tribulation,  or  anguish,  or  perse- 
cution, or  famine,  or  nakedness,  or  peril,  or  sword? 
[The  thought  of  verse  28,  which  has  not  been  out  of  the 
apostle's  mind  since  he  introduced  it,  here  comes  once  more 
squarely  to  the  front.  Shall  any  of  the  hardships  of  our  present 
life  so  work  evil  as  to  cause  Christ  to  change  his  present  feeling 
toward  us,  or  his  future  purpose  to  justify  us  ?  Can  we  who 
know  his  love  ask  such  a  question  ?  Can  anything  in  the  whole 
catalogue  of  hardships  work  such  results  ?  Though  in  our  day 
the  sufferings  may  vary  somewhat  from  the  items  given  by  the 
apostle,  yet  they  raise  the  same  doubts — produce  in  us  the 
same  effects.  It  is  natural  to  man  to  look  upon  the  sufferings 
of  the  Christian  life  as  a  contradiction  to  the  scheme  of  grace. 


370  EPISTLE    TO    THE  ROMANS 

According  to  our  earthly  conceptions,  a  journey  which  is  to 
end  in  glorification  should  continually  rise  toward  it,  so  that 
pleasures,  joys,  honors,  etc.,  should  increase  daily.  When, 
instead  of  such  a  program,  we  meet  with  tribulation,  anguish, 
nakedness,  etc.,  it  looks  to  us  as  if  God  were  leading  us  the 
wrong  way — the  way  that  would  end  in  degradation  and  death, 
rather  than  glorification  and  life.  The  answer  to  such  thoughts 
is  found  in  this  argument  of  the  apostle.  God  makes  any  road 
lead  to  good  and  glorification,  and  especially  those  roads  which 
seem  to  run  in  the  opposite  directijon  ;  so  that  we  may  regard 
those  things  which  appear  to  argue  his  hatred  and  neglect  as, 
on  the  contrary,  the  strongest  evidences  of  his  love  and  care. 
And  this,  adds  the  apostle,  is  no  new  truth,  for  it  has  been  the 
experience  of  God's  people  in  the  past,  as  the  Scripture  testi- 
fies.] 36  Even  as  it  is  written,  For  thy  sake  we  are 
killed  all  the  day  long ;  We  were  accounted  as  sheep 
for  the  slaughter.  [Ps.  44:  22.  This  Psalm  is  supposed  to 
have  been  written  during  the  Babylonish  captivity,  and  that  it 
is  a  correct  description  of  the  state  of  the  Jew  in  that  day,  we 
may  readily  conceive  from  details  given  in  Daniel  and  Esther. 
But  the  Psalm  was  also  prophetic.  As  the  Jew  suffered  be- 
cause of  the  peculiar  religion  which  God  had  bestowed  upon 
him,  so  also  did  the  Christian ;  and  in  both  cases  the  enemies 
of  the  revealed  religions  looked  upon  the  worshipers  as  people 
who  were  to  be  killed  as  a  matter  of  course,  without  compunc- 
tion or  pity,  just  as  sheep  are  slain  for  sacrifice  or  for  the 
market.]  37  Nay,  in  all  these  things  we  are  more  than 
conquerors  through  him  that  loved  us.  [But  though  we 
be  in  tribulation,  and  be  slain  like  sheep,  yet  in  all  these  things 
we  not  only  gain  the  conquest,  so  that  we  survive  them,  but 
we  come  out  more  than  victors,  for  we  are  crowned  over  them 
with  immortality  and  eternal  life.  But  this  victory  is  achieved 
not  of  ourselves,  but  because  of  the  love  of  Christ,  who,  by 
his  death,  won  for  us  these  better  things.  The  phrase  "more 
than  conquerors"  is  a  single  word  in  the  Greek,  and  means, 
literally,  "over-conquerors."  Some  see  in  this  a  peculiar  kind 
of  victory.    "This  is  a  new  order  of  victory,"  says  Chrysostom, 


THE  AID    OF   THE  SPIRIT  371 

"to  conquer  by  means  of  our  adversaries."  "The  adversaries," 
says  Chillingsworth,  "are  not  only  overcome  and  disarmed,  but 
they  are  brought  over  to  our  faction  ;  they  war  on  our  side." 
If  such  a  meaning  jiiay  be  properly  put  upon  this  word,  then 
the  idea  here  is  beautifully  harmonious  and  consonant  with  the 
thought  expressed  in  verse  28,  which  shows  that  God  indeed 
causes  things  which  seem  to  be  inimical  to  serve  our  interests 
and  further  our  blessedness.]  38  For  I  am  persuaded  that 
neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities, 
nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  powers, 
39  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall 
be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is 
in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.  [From  the  various  grounds  of 
assurance  which  he  has  enumerated  in  this  chapter,  Paul  gives 
it  as  his  own  personal,  final  conviction  that  (apart  from  the 
disciple's  own  will)  nothing  can  separate  him  from  God's  love 
as  displayed  in  the  gift  of  Christ  to  die  for  man's  redemption, 
and  to  reign  for  man's  glorification.  To  illustrate  the  wide 
range  of  possible  antagonism  which  may  arise  to  oppose  man's 
glorification,  he  submits  a  wonderful  list  of  things  having  such 
inherent  vastness  and  grandeur  that  they  can  not  be  defined 
without  diminution  and  loss.  If  we  should  attempt  to  explain 
him,  we  would  say  that  neither  terrestrial  existence,  with  its 
phases  of  life  and  death ;  nor  celestial  existence,  reaching  from 
angels  to  unknown  altitudes  of  rulership ;  nor  time,  present  or 
future;  nor  any  other  imaginable  power;  nor  space,  heaven- 
ward or  hellward  ;  nor  any  other  form  of  creation,  visible  or 
invisible,  known  or  unknown,  can  effect  a  separation  between 
God  and  those  objects  of  his  love  whom  he  has  redeemed  in 
Christ.  As  to  the  whole  passage,  the  words  of  Erasmus  are  a 
characteristic  comment.  "Cicero,"  says  he,  "never  said  any- 
thing more  eloquent."  It  is  far  more  easy  for  us  all  to  grasp 
the  rhetorical  and  superficial  beauty  of  this  marvelous  passage, 
which  soars  to  the  extreme  altitude  of  divine  inspiration,  than 
to  appreciate,  even  in  the  slightest  or  most  remote  degree,  the 
excellencies  of  the  sublime  and  eternal  verities  which  it  seeks 
to  bring  home  to  our  consciences.     The  love  of  God  is  so  little 


372  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

comprehended  by  our  sinful  and  finite  natures,  that  ex- 
positions of  it  are  to  us  as  descriptions  of  color  are  to 
the  blind,  or  as  explanations  of  melody  and  harmony 
are  to  the  deaf.  We,  as  they,  admire  the  verbiage 
and  the  skill  of  him  who  has  dazed  our  understand- 
ing, and  are  hardly  conscious  how  far  we  fall  short 
of  truly  following  the  conceptions  which  the  writer 
sought  to  convey  to  our  spirits.]'^ 


*  NoTE.^ — At  this  point  the  work  on  Romans  was  discontinued  on  the 
16th  of  July,  1908.  Since  then  (in  October,  1911)  Bro.  McGarvey  went  to 
his  rest  and  reward.  Now,  June  15,  1914,  I  resume  work  alone,  and  shall 
miss  him.  He  was  to  me  a  considerate  editor,  a  genial  companion,  a  most 
thoughtful  and  faithful  friend.  Soon  after  the  work  was  discontinued  1 
received  from  him  a  much-prized  letter,  containing  these  words:  "You 
have  written  a   commentary   which   will   compare   favorably   with   any." 

Encouraged  in  part  by  so  frank  a  commendation  from  so  competent 
an  authority,  I  did  not  destroy  my  analysis  of  the  Book  of  Romans;  but 
(though  it  is  very  similar  to  that  found  in  the  Introduction)  I  filed  it  away, 
believing  that  if  his  judgment  were  correct,  the  merits  of  the  work  would 
some  day  call  for  its  completion.  Now,  after  five  years  and  eleven  months, 
the  analysis  comes  forth  from  its  dusty  pigeon-hole  and  the  work  is  re- 
sumed; but  he  is  not  here  to  rejoice  with  me.  How  inspiring  the  thought 
that  he  is  where  the  pleasures  unknown  abound,  and  where  such  joys  as  I 
would  share  with  him  are  as  dust  and  weightless  motes  upon  the  balances! 
Cincinnati,  O.,  June  15,  1914.  Philip  Y.  Pendleton. 


CONDEMNATION    OF   ISRAEL  Z7Z 


PART  SECOND. 

EXPLANATORY:  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  RIGHT- 
EOUSNESS  BY   FAITH    RECONCILED   AS 
TO  (1)  THE  PROMISES  MADE  TO  IS- 
RAEL; (2)  THE  ELECTION  AND 
COVENANTS  OF  THAT  PEO- 
PLE;   (3)    THE    SCRIP- 
TURES;   (4)    THE 
FAITHFUL- 
NESS OF 
GOD. 

9:1-11:36. 

I. 

SINCE  HIS  DOCTRINE  RESULTS  IN  THE  CON- 
DEMNATION OF  ISRAEL,  PAUL  SHOWS 
THAT  THIS  RESULT  IS  C0NTRA:^Y 
TO  HIS  PERSONAL  BIAS,  OR 
WISH 

9:1-5. 

[In  Part  I.  of  his  Epistle  (chaps.  1-8)  Paul  pre- 
sented the  great  doctrine  that  righteousness  and  sal- 
vation are  obtained  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  But 
the  unbelief  of  the  Jews  excluded  them  generally  from 
this  salvation,  yet  ''salvation  is  from  the  Jews"  (John 
4:22).  The  doctrine,  and  the  situation  engendered  by 
it,  raised  before  the  minds  of  Paul's  readers  several 
great  questions,  such  as  these:  How  could  Scripture, 
which  promised  blessings  to  the  Jews,  be  fulfilled  in 
a  gospel  which  gave  blessings  to  Gentiles  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  Jews?  The  covenants  to  Abraham  guar- 
anteed blessings  to  his  seed,  how,  then,  could  the 
gospel  be  the  fulfillment  of  these  covenants  when  it 
brought  blessing  and  salvation  to  the  Gentiles,  and 
rejection    and    damnation    to   the   Jews,    the    seed   of 

25 


374  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

Abraham?  It  is  for  the  purpose  of  answering  these 
and  kindred  questions  which  naturally  arose  out  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  first  part  of  his  work,  that  this 
second  part  was  written.  As  these  questions  arose 
out  of  the  history  of  Israel,  Paul  naturally  reviews 
that  history,  so  Tholuck  calls  this  second  part  of  his 
work  "a  historical  corollary."  The  apostle's  effort  is 
to  show  that  the  gospel  of  Christ,  while  it  conflicts 
with  the  false  doctrinal  deductions  which  the  Jews 
drew  from  their  history,  agrees  perfectly  with  all  cor- 
rect deductions  from  that  history.]  I  say  the  truth  in 
Christ  [This  is  not  an  oath.  Some  modern,  and  most 
of  the  earlier,  commentators  suppose  it  is;  but  they 
forget  that  Deut.  6:13  is  repealed  at  Matt.  5:33-37. 
If  it  were  an  oath,  we  would,  in  the  absence  of  any 
verb  of  swearing,  have  the  Greek  preposition  pros 
("by")  with  the  genitive,  but  instead  we  have  en  ("in") 
with  the  dative.  His  asseveration  is,  however,  as 
solemn  and  binding  as  an  oath,  and  is  designed  to 
give  vehement  emphasis  to  his  words — comp.  2  Cor. 
2:  17:  as  though  he  said,  'T  speak  the  truth,  for  Christ 
is  true,  and  I  am  a  member  in  Christ,  and  he  himself, 
therefore,  speaks  through  me — comp.  Gal.  2:20;  Phil. 
1:21],  I  lie  not  [Such  a  coupling  of  the  positive  and 
negative  for  purposes  of  emphasis  is  common  to  Scrip- 
ture. See  Deut.  33  :  6 ;  Isa.  38  :  1 ;  John  1 :  20] ,  my  con- 
science bearing  witness  with  me  in  the  Holy  Spirit 
[my  conscience,  though  enlightened,  guided  and  made 
more  than  naturally  sensitive  and  accurate  by  the 
indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  still  testifies  that  in  this 
I  am  wholly  and  unequivocally  truthful],  2  that  I 
have  great  sorrow  and  unceasing  pain  in  my  heart. 
[Paul,  in  the  depth  of  his  passion,  does  not  deliber- 
ately state  the- cause  of  his  grief,  but  leaves  it  to  be 
implied.  His  grief  was  that  the  gospel  had  resulted 
in  the  rejection  of  his  own  people,  the  Jews.  He  had 
closed  the  first  part  of  his  Epistle  in  a  triumphant  out- 
burst of  praise  at  the  glorious  salvation  wrought  by 
the  gospel  of  belief  in  Christ,  but  ere  praise  has  died 
on  his  lips,  this  minor  wail  of  anguish  opens  the  sec- 


CONDEMNATION   OF   ISRAEL  375 

ond  part  of  his  Epistle  because  Israel  does  not  par- 
ticipate in  this  glad  salvation.  "The  grief  for  his 
nation  and  people,"  says  Poole,  "he  expresseth,  1.  By 
the  greatness  of  it ;  it  was  such  as  a  woman  hath  in 
travail ;  so  the  word  imports.  2.  By  the  continuance  of 
it ;  it  was  continual,  or  without  intermission.  3.  By 
the  seat  of  it ;  it  was  in  his  heart,  and  not  outward  in 
his  face."  And  why  does  Paul  asseverate  so  strongly 
that  he  feels  such  grief?  1.  Because  only  himself  and 
God  (and  God  had  to  do  with  him  through  Christ 
and  the  Holy  Spirit)  knew  the  hidden  secrets  of  his 
bosom.  2.  Because  without  some  such  asseveration 
the  Jews  would  hardly  believe  him  in  this  respect. 
Even  Christian  Jews  looked  upon  his  racial  loyalty 
w^ith  suspicion  (Acts  21  :  20,  21)  ;  what  wonder,  then, 
if  unbelieving  Jews  regarded  him  as  the  most  virulent 
enemy  of  their  race  (Acts  28:17-19),  and  believed 
him  capable  of  corrupting  any  Scripture  to  their  in- 
jury, of  inventing  any  doctrine  to  their  prejudice,  of 
perverting  any  truth  into  a  lie  to  work  them  harm? 
(See  2  Cor.  6:8;  1:17;  2:17;  4:1,  2;  7:2,  etc.)  In 
their  estimation  Paul  was  easily  capable  of  giving 
birth  to  this  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith  for  no 
other  end  than  the  joy  of  pronouncing  their  dam- 
nation for  their  unbelief.  Yea,  they  could  readily  be- 
lieve that  his  joy  expressed  at  Rom.  8 :  31-39  was 
more  due  to  the  fact  that  Israel  was  shut  out  from 
salvation,  than  that  there  was  salvation.  To  thor- 
oughly appreciate  the  full  bitterness  of  the  Jewish 
mistrust  and  hatred  toward  Paul  we  must  remember 
the  constancy  with  which  for  years  they  persecuted 
him,  and  that  very  soon  after  the  writing  of  this 
Epistle  they  occasioned  his  long  imprisonment  in 
Rome,  and  relentlessly  persisted  in  their  accusations 
against  him  till  they  became  the  immediate  cause  of 
his  martyrdom.  Therefore,  in  expressing  his  sorrow 
over  the  rejection  of  Israel,  Paul  pledgees  his  truth- 
fulness in  Christ  for  whom  he  had  suffered  the  loss 
of  all  things,  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit  who  was  wont  to 
strike  down  all  lying  Ananiases   (Acts  5:3-5),  for  it 


Z7(i  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

was  necessary,  before  another  word  be  said,  that 
every  Jew  should  know  that  Paul's  doctrine  was  not 
his  own,  that  it  did  not  arise  in  his  mind  because  of 
any  spleen,  malice,  hostility,  illwill,  or  even  mild  dis- 
taste for  the  Jewish  people.  On  the  contrary,  his  per- 
sonal bias  was  against  the  doctrine  which  he  taught; 
and  none  knew  this  so  well  as  the  Christ  with  whom 
the  doctrine  arose,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  who  inspired 
Paul  to  teach  it.]  3  For  I  couid  wish  [Literally,  "I 
was  wishing."  Some  therefore  regard  Paul  as  refer- 
ring to  his  attitude  to  Christ  while  he  was  persecuting 
the  church  in  the  days  before  his  conversion.  But 
Paul  is  asserting  his  present  love  toward  Israel,  and 
his  past  conduct  proved  nothing  whatever  as  to  it. 
The  tense  here  is  the  imperfect  indicative,  and  is 
correctly  translated  "I  could  wish,"  for  it  indicates 
arrested,  incomplete  action,  a  something  never  fin- 
ished; and  it  therefore  often  stands  for  the  conjunctive. 
This  potential  or  conditional  force  of  the  imperfect 
is,  as  Alford  remarks,  "no  new  discovery,  but  com- 
mon enough  in  every  schoolboy's  reading."  Paul 
means  to  say  that  he  never  actually  formed  this  wish, 
but  could  conceive  of  himself  as  going  to  the  length 
of  forming  it,  if  admissible — if  it  were  merely  a  ques- 
tion of  love  toward  his  countrymen,  and  no  obstacle 
intervened]  that  I  myself  were  anathema  from  Christ 
for  my  brethren's  sake  [The  root  idea  of  anathema 
is  anything  cut  or  torn  off,  anything  separated  or 
shut  up.  In  the  Old  Testament  the  inanimate  thing 
devoted  or  anathematized  was  stored  up,  while  the 
animate  thing  was  killed  (Lev.  27:26-29).  Compare 
the  anathemas  of  Jericho  and  Achan  Qosh.  6:16; 
7:15,  22-26).  But  the  New  Testament  prefers  that 
use  of  the  word  which  indicates  spiritual  punishment ; 
viz.,  exclusion,  banishment,  as  in  the  case  of  one  rest- 
ing under  a  ban  (Gal.  1:8.  9;  1  Cor.  12:3;  16:22),  for 
Paul  certainly  ordered  no  one  to  be  physically  put  to 
death.  The  idea  of  banishment  is,  in  this  case,  made 
even  more  apparent  by  the  addition  of  the  words  "from 
Christ."    Paul  therefore  means  to  say,  "I  may,  indeed, 


CONDEMNATION    OF   ISRAEL  Z77 

be  regarded  as  an  enemy  of  my  people,  delighting  in 
their  being  excluded  from  salvation  by  their  rejection 
of  the  gospel  (as  they  indeed  are — Gal.  1:8,  9;  5 : 4)  ; 
but  so  far  am  I  from  doing  this  that  I.  could,  were  it 
permissible,  wish  for  their  sakes  that  I  might  so  ex- 
change places  with  them  that  I  might  be  cut  off  from 
Christ,  and  be  lost,  that  they  might  be  joined  to  him 
and  be  saved.  For  their  sakes  I  could  go  into  eternal 
perdition  to  keep  them  from  going  there."  Men  of 
prudent  self-interest  and  cold,  speculative  deliberation 
regard  Paul's  words  as  so  unreasonable  that  they 
would  pervert  them  in  order  to  alter  their  meaning. 
They  forget  that  Judah  offered  to  become  a  slave  in 
Benjamin's  stead  (Gen.  44:  18-34)  ;  that  David  wished 
he  had  died  for  Absalom  (2  Sam.  18:33),  and  that 
the  petition  of  Moses  exceeded  this  unexpressed  wish 
of  the  apostle  (Ex.  32:32).  They  are  blind  to  the 
great  truth  that  in  instances  like  this  "the  foolishness 
of  God"  (even  operating  spiritually  in  men  of  God) 
"is  wiser  than  men"  (1  Cor.  1 :25).  No  man  can  be  a 
propitiation  for  the  souls  of  other  men.  Only  the 
Christ  can  offer  himself  as  a  vicarious  sacrifice  for 
the  lives  of  others  so  as  to  become  in  their  stead 
a  curse  (Gal.  3:  13),  abandoned  of  God  (Mark  15:  34). 
But  surely  the  true  servant  of  Christ  may  so  far  par- 
take of  the  Spirit  of  his  Master  as  to  have  moments 
of  exalted  spiritual  grace  wherein  he  could  wish, 
were  it  permissible,  to  make  the  Christlike  sacrifice. 
(Comp.  2  Cor.  12:15;  Phil.  2:17;  1  Thess.  2:8;  1 
John  3 :  16.)  In  this  instance  we  may  conceive  of 
Paul  as  ardently  contemplating  such  a  wish,  for:  1. 
He  had  prophetic  insight  into  the  age-long  and  almost 
universal  casting  off  of  the  Jews,  and  their  conse- 
quent sorrows  and  distresses,  all  of  which  moved  him 
to  unusual  compassion.  2.  He  had  also  spiritual  in- 
sight into  the  torments  of  the  damned,  which  would 
stir  him  to  superhuman  efforts  on  behalf  of  his  peo- 
ple. 3.  He  could  conceive  of  the  superior  honor  to 
Christ  if  received  by  the  millions  of  Israel  instead  of 
the  one,  Paul.    4.  He  could  deem  it,  a  sweeter  joy  to 


378  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

Christ  to  give  salvation  unto  the  many,  rather  than 
merely  unto  the  one,  Paul.  5.  He  could  contrast  the 
joys  his  exchange  might  give  to  the  many  with  the 
single  sorrow  of  damnation  meted  out  to  himself 
alone,  and  could  therefore  feel  some  satisfaction  in 
contemplating  such  a  sacrifice  for  such  a  purpose. 
(Comp.  Heb.  12:  2.)  6.  Finally,  just  before  this  he  has 
asserted  the  possibility  of  one  dying  for  a  righteous 
or  good  man  (Rom.  5:7).  If  such  a  thing  is  possible, 
might  not  Paul  be  excused  if  he  felt  ready,  not  only 
to  die,  but  even  to  suffer  eternal  exclusion  from 
Christ,  if  his  act  could  avail  to  save  a  whole  cove- 
nanted people,  so  worthy  and  so  loved  of  God,  as 
Israel  was  shown  to  be  by  those  honors  and  favors 
bestowed  upon  it,  which  he  proceeds  at  once  to 
enumerate?  Under  all  the  circumstances,  therefore, 
it  is  apparent  that  such  strong  words  and  deep 
emotions  are  to  be  expected  from  one  who  loved  as 
did  Paul.  For  further  evidences  of  his  love  toward 
churches  and  individuals,  see  1  Cor.  1:4;  Phil.  1 :  3,  4; 
Eph.  1 :  16 ;  1  Thess.  1:2;  Philem.  4 ;  2  Tim.  1 :  3,  4 ;  2 
Cor.  11:28,  29],  my  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh 
[And  here  we  have  the  first  impulse  for  the  strong  ex- 
pression of  passion  just  uttered.  In  the  Jew  an  ardent 
family  affection,  blending  with  an  intense  national 
pride,  combine  to  form  a  patriotism  unparalleled  in  its 
fervor  and  devotion]  :  4  who  are  Israelites  [The  first 
distinction  of  the  chosen  people  was  their  descent 
from  and  right  to  the  name  'Tsrael" :  a  name  won  by 
Jacob  when,  wrestling,  he  so  prevailed  with  God  that 
he  was  called  Israel,  or  prince  of  God  (Gen.  32:28), 
and  also  won  for  himself  the  unique  honor  of  having 
all  his  descendants  bear  his  name,  and  be  accepted  as 
God's  covenant  people]  ;  whose  is  the  adoption  [i.  e., 
the  Sonship.  Israel  is  always  represented  as  the 
Lord's  son  or  first-born,  in  contradistinction  to  the 
Gentiles,  who  are  his  creatures — Ex.  4 :  22,  23 ;  19 :  5 ; 
Deut.  7:6;  14:1;  Isa.  1:2;  Jer.  31:9;  Hos.  11:1; 
Mai.  1:6],  and  the  glory  [The  glory  of  having  God 
manifested  visibly  as  their  friend  and  protector.    This 


CONDEMNATION    OF   ISRAEL  379 

glory  was  called  the  Shekinah  and  appeared  in  the 
pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  fire  by  night  (Ex.  13:21, 
22),  and  rested  on  Mt.  Sinai  (Ex.  24:  16)  and  on  the 
tabernacle  (Ex.  29:43),  and  in  the  tabernacle  (Ex. 
40:34-38;  Lev.  9:23,  24),  and  enH^htened  the  face  of 
Moses  (Ex.  34:29-35;  2  Cor.  3:7-i8),  and  filled  Solo- 
mon's temple  (1  Kings  8:10,  11),  and  is  thought  to 
have  abode  between  the  cherubim,  over  the  mercy- 
seat  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant  (Ex.  25  :  22 ;  29 :  43,  44 ; 
Heb.  9:5),  whence  it  is  also  thought  that  the  ark 
itself  is  once  called  "the  glory  of  Israel" — 1  Sam.  4: 
21],  and  the  covenants  [Especially  the  Messianic  and 
promised-land  covenants  given  to  Abraham,  Isaac 
and  Jacob,  to  which  may  be  added  the  covenants  with 
Aaron  (Ex.  29:9)  and  Phinehas  (Num.  25:10-13), 
and  those  made  with  Israel  on  the  plains  of  Moab 
(Deut.  29,  30)  and  at  Shechem  (Josh  24:25),  and  the 
throne  covenant  with  David  (2  Sam.  7:12-17],  and 
the  giving  of  the  law  [It  was  given  at  Mt.  Sinai 
directly  from  the  person  of  God  himself,  and  its  re- 
tention in  Israel  was  a  notable  mark  of  distinction 
between  them  and  all  other  people,  for  it  placed  them 
under  the  divine  government,  as  the  peculiar  heritage 
of  Jehovah],  and  the  service  of  God  [The  order  of 
praise  and  worship  in  tabernacle  and  temple  under 
charge  of  Levites  and  priests  and  explained  at  length 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  "The  grandest  ritual," 
says  Plumer,  "ever  known  on  earth,  with  its  priests, 
altars,  sacrifices,  feasts,  and  splendid  temple"],  and 
the  promises  [The  term  "promise"  is  about  the  same 
as  "covenant"  (Acts  2:39;  Rom.  15:8;  Gal.  3:16; 
Eph.  2:12;  Heb.  11:17).  If  there  is  any  distinction 
to  be  drawn  between  the  two  words,  covenant  is  the 
larger,  including  threatenings  as  well  as  assurances 
of  grace.  In  the  promises  the  threatenings  are  omit- 
ted, and  the  details  of  the  good  are  enlarged]  ;  5 
whose  are  the  fathers  [At  Hebrews  11  we  have  the 
list  of  the  chief  of  these  fathers.  They  were  Israel's 
pride  and  inspiration.  "The  heroes  of  a  people,"  says 
Godet,  "are  regarded  as  its  most  precious  treasure." 


380  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

The  three  pre-eminent  ''fathers"  were  Abraham,  Isaac 
and  Jacob~Ex.  3:  6,  13,  15 ;  4:  5;  Matt.  22:32;  Acts 
3:13;  7:2>2],  and  of  whom  [i.  e.,  of  or  descended 
from  the  fathers]  is  Christ  as  concerning  the  flesh 
[Paul's  enumeration  of  Israel's  endowments  ends  in 
this  as  the  climax  of  all  their  glories  when  coupled 
with  the  statement  as  to  the  divine  nature  of  this 
Christ.  But  to  this  climax  Israel  failed  to  attain. 
They  accepted  neither  the  humanity  nor  divinity  of 
Christ,  hence  Paul's  grief],  who  is  over  all,  God 
blessed  for  ever.  Amen.  [These  words  have  quite  a 
history.  None  of  the  so-called  Ante-Nicene  Fathers 
(theologians  who  wrote  prior  to  A.  D.  325)  ever 
thought  of  contorting  them  from  their  plain  reference 
to  Christ.  Even  among  later  writers,  but  two — 
Diodorus  of  Tarsus  (bishop  in  A.  D.  Z1Z\  died  in 
394)  and  Theodore  of  Mopseustia  (A.  D.  350-429)— 
ever  questioned  their  reference  to  Christ.  Then  came 
Erasmus  (A.  D.  1465-1536).  This  fertile  genius 
seems  to  have  exerted  all  his  ingenuity  on  this  pas- 
sage, for,  by  changing  the  punctuation,  he  made  it 
read  four  different  ways,  two  of  which  have  attracted 
some  notice.  The  first  of  these  reads  thus :  "Of  whom 
is  Christ  as  concerning  the  flesh,  who  is  over  all. 
Blessed  be  God  for  ever.  Amen."  This  effort  to  cut 
off  the  last  clause  and  make  a  benediction  of  it  is 
open  to  several  objections;  we  note  two.  1.  It  is  too 
abrupt.  2.  It  is  not  grammatical  if  taken  as  a  bene- 
diction, for  to  be  in  correct  form  eidogetos  ("blessed") 
should  precede  Theos  ("God"),  but,  instead,  it  follows 
it,  as  in  narrative  form  (Rom.  1:25;  2  Cor.  11:31), 
which  it  is.  The  second  reading  makes  the  whole 
passage  a  benediction,  thus:  "Of  whom  is  Christ  con- 
cerning the  flesh.  Blessed  for  ever  be  God,  who  is 
over  all.  Amen."  To  this  reading  it  may  be  properly 
objected:  1.  That  a  benediction  is  contrary  to  the 
apostle's  mood  and  thought.  He  is  mourning  over 
the  rejection  of  Israel.  Though  he  does  recount  the 
endowments  of  Israel,  why  should  he  burst  forth  in 
ecstatic  benediction  when  all  these  endowments  only 


CONDEMNATION   OF   ISRAEL  381 

brought  the  heavier  condemnation  because  of  Israel's 
unbelief?  2.  Why  should  he  leave  his  analysis  of 
Christ  unfinished  (compare  the  finished,  similar  analy- 
sis at  Rom.  1 : 3,  4)  to  w^ind  up  in  a  benediction,  when 
he  might  have  finished  his  analysis  and  thereby  laid, 
in  a  finished  climax,  a  better  basis  for  a  benediction? 
3.  Again,  the  eulogetos  still  follows  the  Theos,  when 
it  should  precede  it  to  form  a  benediction,  as  it  does 
above  twenty  times  in  Scripture  (Luke  1:68;  2  Cor. 
1:3;  Eph.  1:3;  1  Pet.  1:3,  etc.).  4.  The  ho  oon, 
"who  is,"  stands  naturally  as  in  apposition  to  the 
preceding  subject,  ho  Christos,  "the  Christ,"  and  if 
by  any  unusual  construction  it  has  been  meant  to  be 
taken  in  apposition  to  Theos,  "God,"  it  is  hardly  con- 
ceivable that  we  should  have  had  the  participle  oon, 
"is"  (literally  "being"),  which  under  such  a  construc- 
tion is  superfluous  and  awkward.  This  untenable 
reading  would  soon  have  been  forgotten,  but,  unfor- 
tunately, Meyer  has  given  respectability  to  it  by  a 
long  argument  in  its  favor ;  in  which  he  Insists  that 
the  reading,  "Christ  .  .  .  who  is  over  all,  God  blessed 
for  ever,"  is  contrary  to  the  invariable  teaching  of 
Paul,  who  always  recognizes  the  subordination  of  the 
Son  to  the  Father  and  who  does  this  by  never  calling 
the  Son  "God" ;  always  reserving  that  title  for  the 
Father.  It  is  true  that  Paul  recognizes  this  subordi- 
nation, and  generally  does  it  in  the  way  indicated,  but 
he  does  it  as  to  Christ  the  unit;  i.  e.,  Christ  the  united 
compound  of  God  and  man.  But  Paul  is  here  resolv- 
ing that  compound  into  its  two  elements ;  viz.,  Christ, 
man-descended  after  the  flesh ;  and  Christ,  God  after 
the  Spirit.  Now,  when  thus  resolved  into  ^is  ele- 
ments, the  divine  in  Christ  is  not  described  as  subor- 
dinate to  the  Father,  nor  is  the  full  measure  of  deity 
withheld  from  him.  On  the  contrary,  John  and  Paul 
(whom  Meyer  conceives  of  as  disagreeing  as  to  the 
Christ's  subordination)  agree  perfectly  in  this,  only 
Paul  is  even  clearer  and  more  explicit  in  his  state- 
ment. John  begins  with  our  Lord  before  his  divinity 
became   compounded   with   humanity,   and   calls   him 


382  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

the  Word.  'In  the  beginning,"  says  he,  "was  the 
Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word 
was  God"  (John  1:1).  Surely  there  is  no  subordi- 
nation indicated  by  John  in  treating  of  the  separate 
divine  nature  of  our  Lord.  Then  he  tells  of  the  com- 
pounding of  that  divine  nature  with  the  human  nature. 
''And  the  Word,"  says  he,  "became  flesh,  and  dwelt 
among  us"  (John  1:14).  Here,  then,  is  that  com- 
pounding of  divinity  and  humanity  which  we  call 
Jesus,  and  this  Jesus  is,  according  to  John,  subordi- 
nate to  the  Father.  On  this  important  point  John 
lets  the  God-man  speak  for  himself.  "The  Father," 
says  Jesus,  "is  greater  than  I"  (John  14:28).  Now 
let  us  compare  this  teaching  with  the  doctrine  of 
Paul.  "Have  this  mind  in  you,"  says  he,  "which  was 
also  in  Christ  Jesus :  who,  existing  in  the  form  of 
God"  (that  is,  when  he  was  what  John  calls  the 
Word ;  when  he  was  not  as  yet  compounded  with 
humanity),  "counted  not  the  being  on  an  equality 
with  God"  (here  Paul  is  more  explicit  than  John  in 
asserting  our  Lord's  unsubordinate  condition  before 
he  became  incarnate)  "a  thing  to  be  grasped,  but  he 
emptied  himself,  taking  the  form  of  a  servant,  being 
made  in  the  Hkeness  of  men"  (equivalent  to  John's 
"the  AVord  became  flesh,"  after  which  follows  the 
statement  of  subordination ;  viz.)  ;  "and  being  found 
in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  himself,  becoming 
obedient  even  unto  death,  yea,  the  death  of  the  cross," 
etc.  (Phil.  2:5-11).  To  one,  therefore,  who  carefully 
compares  these  passages,  it  is  apparent  that  according 
to  apostolic  doctrine  Jesus,  the  unit,  is  subordinate  to 
the  Father,  but  when  Jesus  is  separated  by  analysis 
into  his  component  parts,  his  divine  nature  is  God, 
and  equal  with  God  (Col.  2:9).  At  Rom.  1 : 3,  4 
this  divine  nature  is  called  "Son  of  God";  here  it  is 
called  "God  over  all,  blessed  for  ever."  So  Meyer's 
contention  against  the  reading  of  the  text  is  not  well 
taken.  The  natural  reading  refers  the  Avords  to  Christ, 
and  there  is  good  Scriptural  reason  why  this  should 
be   done,   for  all   things   here   said   of  Christ   rest  on 


CONDEMNATION    OF   ISRAEL  383 

Scriptural  authority;  for  (1)  he  is  called  God  (Isa. 
9:6;  John  1:1;  Phil.  2:5-11;  John  20:28;  Tit.  1:3; 
2:13;  3:4,  6;  Col.  2:9.  Comp.  1  Tim.  2:5  with 
Acts  20:28,  and  the  "my  church"  of  Matt.  16:18). 
(2)  The  term  eulogetos  may  be  fittingly  applied  to 
him,  for  it  is  even  applied  to  mere  men  by  the  LXX. 
(Deut.  7:14;  Ruth  2:20;  1  Sam.  15:13),  and  is  no 
stronger  than  the  term  ''glory"  (2  Pet.  3 :  18 ;  Heb.  13: 
21;  2  Tim.  4:18).  (3)  Christ  himself  claims  to  be 
"over  all"  (John  3:31;  Matt.  28:28),  and  it  is 
abundantly  asserted  that  such  is  the  case  (Phil.  2: 
6-11;  Eph.  1:20-23;  Rom.  10:12;  Acts  10:36). 
So  complete  is  his  dominion  that  Paul  deems  it  need- 
ful to  expressly  state  that  the  Father  is  not  made 
subordinate  (1  Cor.  15:25-28).  The  whole  passage, 
as  Gifford  well  says,  constitutes  "a  noble  protest 
against  the  indignity  cast  upon  him  (Christ)  by  the 
unbelief  of  the  Jews." 


II. 

THE  REJECTION  OF  ISRAEL  NOT  INCONSIST- 
ENT WITH   GOD'S   PROMISE  OR  ELEC- 
TION—HIS   PROMISE    HAS    BEEN 
KEPT  TO  THOSE  TO  WHOM 
IT  WAS  GIVEN. 

9:6-13. 

6  But  it  is  not  as  though  the  word  of  God  hath 
come  to  nought.  [Or,  as  Fritsche  translates,  "The 
matter,  however,  is  not  so  as  that  the  word  of  God 
had  come  to  nought."  Paul  is  answering  the  reason- 
ing of  the  Jew  which  runs  thus:  "You  speak  of  God's 
covenants  and  promises  given  to  the  fathers  and  en- 
larged in  the  Scriptures,  yet  you  say  the  Jew  has 
failed  to  receive  the  blessings  guaranteed  to  him  by 
God  in  those  covenants  and  promises.  If  such  is  the 
case,  then  you  must  admit  that  the  word  of  God  has 


384  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

failed  of  fulfillment."  Paul  begins  his  answer  by 
denying  the  failure  of  the  word  of  God,  and  proceeds 
to  prove  his  denial.  But  his  argument  is  not  rigidly 
polemic;  it  is  rather  a  heart-to-heart  discussion  of 
well-known  historic  facts  which  show  that  God's 
present  enactments,  rulings  and  executions  harmonize 
perfectly  with  those  of  the  past,  which,  too,  have  been 
heartily  and  unanimously  approved  by  the  Jews. 
"No,"  is  then  Paul's  answer,  ''the  word  of  God  has 
not  come  to  nought  in  Israel's  rejection,  for  it  (in  the 
Old  Testament),  as  you  well  know  and  approve, 
taught  and  worked  out  in  precedent  and  example  the 
same  principles  and  same  distinctions  which  are  to- 
day affecting  the  rejection  of  Israel."  God  has  not 
changed,  nor  has  his  word  failed :  it  was  Israel  which 
had  changed  and  failed.]  For  they  are  not  all  Israel, 
that  are  of  Israel  [The  Jews  would  never  have  re- 
garded Paul's  teaching  as  subversive  of  the  promises 
or  word  of  God  if  they  had  not  misconstrued  the 
promises.  They  read  them  thus :  "The  promises  guar- 
antee salvation  to  all  Jews,  and  the  Jews  alone  are  to 
be  saved."  Paul  begins  his  argument  by  denying  the 
correctness  of  their  construction  of  God's  word.  "The 
word  of  God  has  not  failed,"  says  he,  "because  God 
has  cast  off  a  part  of  Israel  (the  fleshly  part  repre- 
sented by  the  Jews),  for  God's  word  is  kept  as  long 
as  he  keeps  covenant  with  the  other  part  (the  spiritual 
part,  represented  by  the  Christians,  principally  Gen- 
tiles), for  you  are  wrong  in  thinking  that  all  the  de- 
scendants of  Jacob  are  reckoned  by  God  as  Israelites, 
or  covenant  people,  and  also  wrong  in  supposing  that 
Israel  has  only  fleshly  children,  and  no  spiritual  chil- 
dren." This  argument  apparently  concedes  for  the 
moment  that  God's  covenant  was  to  give  Israel  sal- 
vation, which  was  not  really  the  case.  God's  covenant 
was  to  provide  the  sacrifice  in  his  Son,  which  would 
afford  the  means  of  salvation,  conditioned  on  faith 
and  obedience]  :  7  neither,  because  they  are  Abra- 
ham's seed,  are  they  all  children:  but  [as  God  said  to 
Abraham — Gen.  21:12],  In  Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be 


GOD'S   PROMISE    KEPT  385 

called.      [/.   c,   the   children   of   Isaac   alone   shall   be 
known  distinctively  as  thy  children,  the  heirs  of  thy 
covenant.     Here,  again,   Paul  attacks  a  second   false 
construction  which  the  Jews  placed  upon  the  promises. 
They  said :  "We  must  all  be  saved  because  we  have 
Abraham  for  our  father  (Matt.  3:9).    If  God  does  not 
save  us,  he  breaks  his  word  with  Abraham."     ''Here 
again  ye  err,"  says  Paul,  "for  at  the  very  start  when 
Abraham  had  but  two  sons,  God  rejected  one  of  them, 
casting   Ishmael   off,   and   choosing   Isaac;   and   later 
when  Abraham  had  many  sons  God  still  refused  all 
but  Isaac,  saying,  The  sons  of  yours  which   I   shall 
call  mine  shall  descend  from  Isaac  alone."]     8  That 
is,  it  is  not  the  children  of  the  flesh    [of  Abraham] 
that  are  [reckoned  or  accounted  as]  children  of  God; 
but  the  children  of  the  promise  are  reckoned  for  a 
seed.      [Are   accounted  the   children   of   God   through 
Abraham.     Fleshly  descent  from  Abraham,  of  itself 
and    without    more — i.     c,    without    promise — never 
availed  for  any  spiritual  blessing  (Gal.  4:23).    "This," 
says  Trapp,  "profiteth  them  no  more  than  it  did  Dives, 
that  Abraham  called  him  son"  (Luke  16:  25).    So  flesh 
avails  neither  then  nor  now,  but  promise.     Paul  pro- 
ceeds to  show  that  Isaac  was  a  son  of  promise,  and 
whatever  covenants  or  promises  availed  for  his  chil- 
dren came  to  them  because  they,  through  him,  became 
symbolically  sons  of  promise,  Isaac  typifying  Christ, 
the  real  son  of  promise  given  to  Abraham    (Gal.   3: 
16),  and  Isaac's  posterity  typifying  the  real  children 
of  promise,  the  regenerated  sons  of  God  begotten  unto 
Christ  through  the  gospel  (Gal.  4:28;  John  1:  12,  13). 
So  as  Abraham  had  a  fleshly  seed  according  to  the 
first  promise,  "In  Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called,"  these 
being  Jews;  so  he  had  a  spiritual  seed  according  to 
the  second  promise,  "In  thee  and  in  thy  seed   shall 
all  the  nations  [Gentiles;  but  not  excluding  Jews]  of 
the  earth  be  blessed,"  these  being  Gentiles.     Hence, 
if  the  two  promises  were  each  kept  with  the  two  par- 
ties to  whom  they  were  severally  given,  the  word  of 
God  was  not  broken,  and  his  promise  had  not  failed. 


286  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

But  such  was  indeed  the  case,  for  God  kept  his  word 
with  the  fleshly  seed,  fulfilhng  to  them  the  fleshly- 
promise  that  Christ  should  be  born  of  their  stock  (John 
4:22;  Gal.  3:16),  and  to  the  spiritual  seed  he  was 
fulfilling  the  spiritual  promise  granting  them  eternal 
life  through  that  faith  in  Christ  which  made  them 
spiritual  children  of  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faith- 
ful (Gal.  3:7-14).  So  it  was  not  two  promises  to  one 
seed,  but  two  promises  to  two  seeds,  and  each  prom- 
ise was  kept  of  God  to  each  promisee.  And  why,  says 
Paul,  do  we  call  Isaac  the  son  of  promise?  Because 
he  was  not  born  according  to  the  natural  law  of  the 
flesh,  his  mother  being  past  bearing,  but  contrary  to 
nature  and  by  reason  of  the  divine  power,  working 
to  fulfill  the  promise  of  God,  which  promise  is  as 
follows]  9  For  this  is  a  word  of  promise  [this  is  the 
saying  or  promise  that  brought  Isaac  into  being,  and 
made  him  a  child  of  promise  and  not  of  natural  birth 
— Gen.  18:10],  According  to  this  season  [Godet 
translates,  "Next  year  at  the  moment  when  this 
same  time  (this  same  epoch)  will  return"]  will  I  come 
[to  fulfill  my  promise],  and  Sarah  shall  have  a  son. 
[This  fixing  of  the  definite  time  (an  exact  year  from 
the  date  of  the  promise)  when  the  child  of  promise 
should  be  born,  is  extremely  significant.  Ishmael  was 
alive  when  this  promise  was  given.  But  what  Jew 
would  have  justified  him  in  urging  a  claim  as  against 
the  promised  Isaac?  Later,  in  the  days  of  Daniel,  a 
time  limit  was  set  for  Christ,  the  greater  Son  of  prom- 
ise, by  which  it  is  made  sure  that  he  would  begin  his 
ministry  in  A.  D.  26.  If  Ishmael  had  no  reason  or 
right  to  complain  that  he  and  his  offspring  (though 
he  was  established  as  a  son)  were  stood  aside  for 
Isaac  and  his  offspring,  what  right  had  Isaac  in  his 
turn  to  complain  if  God  set  a  date  when  he  and  his 
offspring  (though  established  son  as  was  Ishmael) 
should  in  like  manner  be  stood  aside  for  the  greater 
Son  of  promise,  the  Christ  and  his  offspring?  God 
fixed  the  dates  in  each  case,  and  the  dates  in  Dan.  9: 
24,   25    are   equally    explicit   with    Gen.    17:21.     The 


GOD'S  PROMISE   KEPT  387 

Christ,  ''the  anointed  one,  the  prince,"  was  to  appear 
at  the  end  of  sixty-nine  weeks  of  years,  or  in  A.  D. 
26,  and  at  the  full  end  of  the  seventy  weeks,  or  eight 
years  later,  in  A.  D.  34,  the  time  "decreed  upon  thy 
[Daniel's]  people"  came  to  an  end.*  The  Holy  Spirit 
that  year  emphasized  the  rejection  of  fleshly  Israel 
and  the  acceptance  of  the  children  of  promise  (be- 
lievers in  Christ,  his  spiritual  offspring)  by  with- 
drawing from  the  Jews  and  appearing  upon  the  house- 
hold of  Cornelius,  the  firstfruits  of  the  Gentiles  (Acts 
10).  God  gave  Ishmael  only  one  year's  warning,  and 
no  especial  call  to  repent,  or  opportunity  to  save  him- 
self in  any  way.  But  through  Daniel,  Israel  had  five 
hundred  years  of  warning,  and  was  invited  of  Christ 
and  of  all  his  apostles  (even  being  Invariably  invited 
first,  by  Paul  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles)  to  become 
joint  children  of  promise  with  the  Gentiles ;  a  joint 
relationship  wherein  they  were  bound  by  every  cir- 
cumstance to  obtain  and  hold  the  pre-eminence. 
Surely,  then,  the  word  of  God  had  not  failed  as  to 
them,  but  they  had  failed  as  to  it.]  10  And  not  only 
so  [Not  only  is  Ishmael  rejected  for  the  promised 
Isaac,  but  even  Isaac's  seed,  his  two  sons  Esau  and 
Jacob,  are  made  the  subject  of  choice  by  God,  show- 
ing that  even  the  seed  of  the  children  of  promise  may 
be  so  sifted  that  part  may  be  received  and  part  re- 

*  The  count  in  Daniel  runs  thus:  each  seven  weeks  includes  a  jubilee, 
and  hence  numbers  fifty  years.  Seventy  weeks  therefore  equal,  with  their 
jubilees,  five  hundred  years.  The  last  of  these  weeks  includes  its  jubilee, 
and  so  has  eight  years.  The  count  ostensibly  begins  when  the  decree  is 
issued  to  rebuild  Jerusalem,  or  with  the  year  537  B.  C,  but  in  fact  the 
seventy  vears  mentioned  at  Dan.  9:  2  are  first  deducted,  making  the  count 
begin  467  B.  C. 

The  law  of  couplets  requires  this  reduction.  Moreover,  these  years  are 
deducted  for  sabbath  years  which  the  Jews  would  not  keep  while  the  seventy 
weeks  or  five  hundred  years  immediately  after  the  captivity  were  passing; 
just  as  God  exacted  a  like  seventy  years  in  Babylonian  captivity  for  sab- 
batical years  which  the  Jews  did  not  keep  during  a  like  seventy- week  or 
five-hundred-year  period  just  previous  to  the  captivity  (2  Chron.  36:20,  21; 
Ezek.  20:23,  24;  Jer.  25:11,   12). 

The  actual  count,  then,  begins  467  B.  C,  or  with  the  jubilee  of  deliver- 
ance under  Queen   Esther. 

Deducting  sixty-nine  weeks,  or  four  hundred  and  ninety-two  years,  from 
this  date,  gives  us  A.  D.  25-26 — a  j^ear  embracing  parts  of  two  of  our 
years,  for  the  Jewish  year  began  in  October;  and  the  full  seventy  weeks,  or 
five  hundred  years,  gives  us  A.   D.   33-34. 

Therefore  Messiah's  week,  or  the  last  eight  of  the  five  hundred  years, 
ran  from  October,  A.  D.  25,  to  October,  A.  D.  34. 


388  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

jected,  for  God  indeed  did  this,  accepting  Jacob  and 
rejecting  Esau] ;  but  Rebecca  also  having  conceived 
by  one,  even  by  our  father  Isaac  [Now,  it  might  be 
objected  by  the  Jew  (unjustly  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
four  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  were  descended  from 
bondwomen)  that  his  case  was  not  parallel  to  that  of 
Ishmael,  for  Ishmael  was  the  son  of  a  bondwoman 
(an  Egyptian),  and  was  of  a  mocking,  spiteful  dis- 
position (Gen.  21:9).  Ishmael's  rejection,  therefore, 
was  justifiable,  while  the  exclusion  of  the  Jew  by 
Paul's  so-called  gospel  was  utterly  unwarranted.  To 
this  Paul  makes  answer  by  citing  the  cases  of  Jacob 
and  Esau.  They  had  one  father,  Isaac  the  child  of 
promise ;  and  one  mother,  Rebecca  the  well  beloved, 
approved  of  God;  they  were  begotten  at  one  concep- 
tion, and  were  twins  of  one  birth,  yet  God  exercised 
his  right  to  choose  between  them,  and  no  Jew  had 
ever  questioned  this,  his  right  of  choice.  Yea,  the 
unbounded  freedom  of  choice  was  even  more  clearly 
manifest  in  other  details  which  Paul  enumerates] — 11 
for  the  children  being  not  yet  born,  neither  having 
done  anything  good  [as  might  be  supposed  of  Jacob] 
or  bad  [as  might  be  presumed  of  Esau],  that  the  pur- 
pose of  God  according  to  election  [choosing]  might 
stand  [might  be  made  apparent  and  be  fully  and 
finally  confirmed],  not  of  works,  but  of  him  that  call- 
eth  [not  a  choosing  enforced  on  God  by  the  irresist- 
ible, meritorious  claims  of  man,  in  keeping  the  law 
of  works,  human  and  divine ;  but  a  free  choosing  on 
God's  part  manifested  in  his  calling  those  who  suit 
his  purpose],  12  it  was  said  unto  her,  The  elder  shall 
serve  ["Servitude,"  says  Trapp,  ''came  in  with  a 
curse,  and  figureth  reprobation — Gen.  9 :  25  ;  John  8 : 
34,  35;  Gal.  4:30"]  the  younger.  [/.  e.,  Esau  shall 
serve  Jacob.  It  is  evident  from  these  words  that 
Jacob  and  Esau  do  not  figure  personally,  but  as  the 
heads  of  elect  and  non-elect  nations,  for  personally 
Esau  never  served  Jacob.  On  the  contrary,  he  lived 
the  life  of  a  prince  or  petty  king,  while  Jacob  was  a 
hireling,  and  Jacob  feared  Esau  as  the  man  of  power. 


GOD'S  PROMISE   KEPT  389 

But  the  nation  sprung-  of  the  elder  son  did  serve  the 
nation  descended  from  the  younger.  "History,"  says 
Alford,  ''records  several  subjugations  of  Edom  by  the 
kings  of  Judah ;  first  by  David  (2  Sam.  8 :  14)  ; — under 
Joram  they  rebelled  (2  Kings  8:20),  but  were  de- 
feated by  Amaziah  (2  Kings  14:7),  and  Elath  taken 
from  them  by  Uzziah  (2  Kings  14 :  22)  ;  under  Ahaz 
they  were  again  free,  and  troubled  Judah  (2  Chron. 
28:  16,  17;  comp.  2  Kings  16:6,  7, — and  continued  free 
as  prophesied  in  Gen.  27 :  40,  till  the  time  of  John  Hyr- 
canus,  who  (Jos.  Antt.  13:9,  1)  reduced  them  finally, 
so  that  thenceforward  they  were  incorporated  among 
the  Jews."]  13  Even  as  it  is  written  [Mai.  1:2,  3], 
Jacob  I  loved,  but  Esau  I  hated.  [Expositors  of  Calvin- 
istic  bias  insist  upon  the  full,  literal  meaning  of  ''hatred" 
in  this  passage ;  but  Hodge,  whose  leaning  that  way  is 
so  decided  that  he  can  see  no  more  injustice  in  eternal 
than  in  temporal  election  (he  apparently  never  weighed 
the  words  of  our  Saviour  at  Luke  16 :  25 ;  12 :  48,  and 
kindred  passages  which  show  that  temporal  favors 
which  are  indeed  bestowed  arbitrarily  are  taken  into 
account  to  form  the  basis  of  just  judgment  in  the 
bestowal  of  eternal  favors),  is  nevertheless  too  fair- 
minded  an  exegete  to  be  misled  here.  He  says:  "It 
is  evident  that  in  this  case  the  word  hate  means  to 
love  less,  to  regard  and  treat  with  less  favor.  Thus, 
in  Gen.  29 :  33,  Leah  says  she  was  hated  by  her  hus- 
band; while  in  the  preceding  verse  the  same  idea  is 
expressed  by  saying,  'Jacob  loved  Rachel  more  than 
Leah'  (Matt.  8:24;  Luke  14:26).  'If  a  man  come  to 
me  and  hate  not  his  father  and  mother,  etc'  (John 
12:25)."  As  this  ninth  of  Romans  is  the  stronghold 
of  Calvinism,  the  arsenal  of  that  disappearing  remnant 
who  believe  in  eternal  foreordination  according  to  the 
absolute  decree  of  the  sovereign  will  of  God,  we  feel 
that  a  word  ought  to  be  said  about  the  doctrinal  trend 
of  its  sections.  We  therefore  submit  a  few  points.  1. 
It  is  rather  odd  that  this  chapter  should  be  used  to 
prove  salvation  by  election  when,  so  far  as  it  bears  on 
election  at  all,  it  is  wholly  an  effort  to  justify  God  in 

26 


390  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

casting  off  an  elect  people  (Jews)  and  choosing  a 
non-elect  people  (Gentiles).  If,  therefore,  the  chapter 
as  a  whole  teaches  anything  as  to  arbitrary  election, 
it  is  plainly  this,  that  those  who  depend  upon  God  to 
show  partiality  in  electing  some  and  condemning 
others,  w411  either  be  disappointed  as  were  the  Jews, 
or  surprised  as  were  the  Gentiles,  for  election  will 
never  work  out  as  they  suppose.  For,  after  showing 
favor  to  Abraham's  seed  for  nineteen  hundred  years, 
God  adjusted  the  balances,  and,  turning  from  Jews  to 
Gentiles,  made  the  first  last,  and  the  last  first;  the 
elect,  non-elect;  and  the  non-elect,  elect.  And  now, 
the  non-elect,  having  enjoyed  the  favors  and  privileges 
for  a  like  term  of  nineteen  hundred  years,  are  now  be- 
ing called  to  account,  and  will,  in  their  turn,  be  cut 
off.  But  if  they  are,  it  will  be  wholly  their  own  fault, 
just  as  the  rejection  nineteen  hundred  years  ago  was 
by  Israel's  fault,  and  not  by  arbitrary  decree  of  God. 
2.  Moreover,  Paul  is  not  discussing  salvation,  or  fore- 
ordination  as  to  eternity.  There  is  not  one  word  on 
that  subject  in  the  entire  ninth  chapter.  The  apostle 
is  introducing  no  new  doctrine,  no  unheard-of  and 
strange  enormity  like  Calvinism.  "The  difficulty,"  as 
Olshausen  aptly  puts  it,  "and  obscurity  of  the  whole 
section  before  us  are  diminished  wdien  we  reflect  that 
it  by  no  means  contains  anything  peculiar ;  since  the 
same  ideas  which  so  startle  us  in  reading  it,  are  also 
expressed  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Old  as  well  as 
the  New  Testament.  It  is  only  their  conciseness, 
their  bold  and  powerful  utterance,  that  lends  them, 
as  it  were,  an  unprecedented  appearance  here."  The 
apostle  is  speaking  of  the  bestowal  of  temporal  ad- 
vantages and  benefits,  and  is  showing  that  these,  even 
when  relating  to  Messianic  privileges,  are  bestowed 
according  to  God's  free  will — they  have  to  be !  They 
are  like  other  earthly  benefits  or  privileges;  for  in- 
stance, 4:he  distinction  as  to  new-born  souls.  It  is 
God  alone  who  must  determine  how  each  shall  enter 
the  world,  whether  as  of  the  white,  brown,  red,  black 
or  yellow  race,  whether  among  the  rich  or  poor.     So 


GOD'S  PROMISE   KEPT  391 

also,  rising  a  step  higher,  whether  a  soul  shall  have  a 
perfect  or  a  defective  brain  to  think  with,  and  whether 
it  shall  enter  a  Christian  or  a  pagan  home.  Now,  as 
God  gave  a  promise  to  Eve,  the  same  law  of  necessity- 
made  it  compulsory  that  he  choose  arbitrarily  what 
household  should  be  the  repository  of  that  promise  and 
thus  perpetuate  a  lively  expectation  of  its  fulfillment. 
God  therefore  first  chose  the  Chaldees  among  the 
nations,  then,  as  second  choice,  he  elected  Abraham 
among  the  Chaldees ;  third,  he  chose  Isaac  from  Abra- 
ham's seed,  and,  fourth,  Jacob  from  Isaac's  offspring. 
Up  to  this  time  there  was  a  marked  separation,  both 
spiritual  and  geographical,  between  the  elect  and  the 
non-elect,  so  that  there  was  no  confusion  in  anybody's 
mind  as  to  the  inherent  exclusiveness  of  election.  But 
with  Jacob  a  change  came.  His  sons  all  dwell  to- 
gether, and  during  his  lifetime  till  his  last  sickness  no 
election  was  announced  as  to  them  until  on  his  death- 
bed Jacob  gave  Judah  the  pre-eminence  (Gen.  49:8'- 
12).  But  Moses  passes  over  this  pre-eminence  (Deut. 
33 : 7)  and  there  was  no  segregation  of  Judah.  In 
fact,  other  tribes  seem  to  have  overshadowed  Judah 
in  importance,  notably  that  of  Levi,  all  of  whom  were 
set  apart  as  Levites  for  God's  service,  and  of  which 
tribe  also  came  Moses  the  lawgiver  and  Aaron  the 
father  of  the  priesthood.  Moreover,  many  of  the  great 
judges  came  from  other  tribes,  and  the  house  of  Ben- 
jamin furnished  the  first  king..  This  community  of 
interest,  this  privilege  of  enjoying  the  appurtenances 
and  collaterals  of  election,  should  have  taught  Israel 
that  the  blessing  promised  was  greater,  wider  and 
more  gracious  than  the  mere  privilege  of  being  the 
repository  of  that  blessing,  but,  instead,  it  begot  in 
them  the  mistaken  idea  that  all  the  twelve  tribes  were 
elect.  So,  indeed,  they  were  as  to  possessing  the  land, 
but  they  were  not  elect  as  to  being  repositories  of  the 
Messianic  promise,  which  honor  was  first  limited  to 
Judah  (1  Chron.  5:2)  and  afterwards  to  the  house 
of  David  (2  Sam.  7:12:  Mic.  5:2;  John  7:42).  Now, 
this  is  what  Paul  is  discussing.     With  him  it  is  a 


392  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

question  of  fixing  a  promise  so  that  men  may  watch 
for  its  fulfilhiient  in  a  certain  race  and  family — a 
promise  which,  when  fulfilled,  brings  blessings  and 
benefits  not  confined  to  any  race  or  family,  but  open 
and  free  to  all  who  accept  them,  and  denied  to  all 
who  refuse  and  reject  them,  yea,  even  to  the  very 
race  and  family  which  have  been  the  age-long  reposi- 
tories of  the  promise.  And  the  point  of  Paul's  whole 
argument  is  this :  As  God  was  absolutely  free  to 
choose  who  should  be  the  repositories  of  the  promise, 
so  is  he  absolutely  free  to  fix  the  terms  by  which  men 
shall  enjoy  the  blessings  promised,  even  if  those  terms 
(because  of  rebellion  against  them  on  the  part  of  the 
repositories)  work  out  the  failure  of  the  repositories 
to  enjoy  the  blessings  so  long  held  by  them  in  the 
form  of  unfulfilled  promise.  And  what  has  all  this 
to  do  with  electing  infants  to  eternal  damnation? 
No  more  than  the  election  which  makes  one  child 
black  and  the  other  white,  when  both  are  born  the 
same  moment.  In  short,  no  temporal  election,  no 
matter  hozv  blessed,  includes  salvation  to  the  elect 
or  necessitates  damnation  upon  the  non-elect,  for  it 
is  apparent  to  all  that  the  election  of  the  Gentiles  as 
repositories  of  Christian  truth  does  not  save  half  of 
them,  and  the  rejection  of  the  Jews  from  this  holy 
office  damns  none  of  them.  Salvation  is, accorded  the 
Jew  who  believes  as  freely  as  it  is  to  the  Gentile, 
and  the  unbelieving  Gentile  is  damned  with  the  unbe- 
lieving Jew,  and  rests  under  heavier  condemnation 
because  he  sins  against  greater  temporal  privileges 
and  advantages.  In  either  case  the  temporal  advan- 
tage or  disadvantage  will  be  duly  considered  in  form- 
ing a  just  judgment  (Luke  12:48).  3.  It  should  be 
noted  that  Paul  proves  God's  right  at  any  time  to 
limit  his  promise.  Thus  the  blessing  to  Abraham's 
seed  was  first  "nakedly  and  generally  expressed,"  as 
Chalmers  puts  it.  Then  it  was  limited  to  one  son,  Isaac. 
Again  it  was  limited  to  Isaac's  son,  Jacob.  Therefore, 
as  God  established  his  right  of  limiting  the  promise 
to   those  whom   he   chose   in   the   inner   circle  of  the 


GOD'S   PROMISE    KEPT  393 

promise,  so  he  could  in  the  gospel  age  limit  the  prom- 
ise to  spiritual  to  the  exclusion  of  fieshly  seed.  This 
is  not  just  what  he  did,  but  this  is  what  he  established 
his  right  to  do,  for  if  he  could  disinherit  Ishmael  after 
he  had  apparently  obtained  vested  rights,  and  if  he 
disinherited  Esau  before  he  was  born,  there  was  no 
limit  to  his  right  to  disinherit,  providing  only  that  he 
kept  within  the  promise  and  chose  some  one  of  Abra- 
ham's seed,  or  the  seed  of  some  one  of  his  descendants 
to  whom  a  like  covenant  was  given.  Compare  his  ofifer 
to  make  Moses  the  head  of  a  new  people  (Ex.  32:  10), 
which  he  was  free  to  do,  not  having  confirmed  the 
rights  in  Judah  pronounced  by  Jacob  (Gen.  49:8-12). 


III. 

REJECTION  OF  ISRAEL  NOT  INCONSISTENT 
WITH  THE  JUSTICE  OF   GOD. 

9:14-18. 

14  What  shall  we  say  then?  [The  apostle  makes 
frequent  use  of  the  semi-dialogue.  Five  times  already 
in  this  Epistle  he  has  asked  this  question  (3:5;  4:1; 
6:1;  7:7;  8:31).  He  begins  with  this  question 
which  calls  out  an  objection  in  the  form  of  a  ques- 
tion, to  which  he  replies  with  an  indignant  denial, 
which  he  backs  up  by  a  full  and  detailed  answer,  or 
explanation.  The  question  called  out  is]  Is  there  un- 
righteousness with  God?  [The  indignant  denial  is  as 
usual]  God  forbid.  [Poole  calls  this  'Taul's  repeated 
note  of  detestation."  He  uses  it  fourteen  times.  It 
expresses  indignant,  pious  horror.  Literally  it  is, 
"Let  it  not  be;"  but  as  this  form  of  expression  was 
too  tame  for  our  English  ancestry  who  have  ever 
held  God's  name  in  that  light  reverence  which  makes 
free  use  of  it  for  emphasis,  we  find  it  translated 
"God  forbid"  by  Wyclif,  Coverdale,  Tyndale,  Cran- 
mer,  the  Genevan,  etc.     But  the  use  of  God's  name, 


394  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

being  needless,  is  inexcusable.  The  import,  then,  of 
verse  14  runs  thus :  If  God  chooses  arbitrarily,  is  he 
not  unjust?  and  does  he  not  thereby  do  violence  to 
his  moral  character,  his  holiness?  The  apostle's  an- 
swer is  unique ;  for  it  is  merely  a  quotation  from 
Scripture.  His  argument,  therefore,  rests  upon  a 
double  assumption ;  first,  that  God  is  truly  represented 
in  the  Scripture,  and,  second,  the  Scripture  every- 
where represents  him  as  just,  holy  and  perfect. 
Paul's  objector,  in  this  case,  would  be  a  Jew,  and  any 
Jew  would  accept  both  these  assumptions  as  axio- 
matic. If,  therefore,  Paul's  Scripture  quotation  shows 
that  God's  power  of  choice  is  absolutely  free,  then 
the  apostle  by  it  has  likewise  shown  that  God's  arbi- 
trary choices  are  nevertheless  just  and  holy,  and  ob- 
jection to  them  as  unjust  is  not  well  founded.  The 
arbitrary  choice  of  a  sinful  heart  is  sinful,  but  the 
arbitrary  choice  of  the  Sinless  is  likewise  sinless,  just 
and  holy  partaking  of  his  nature  who  chooses.]  15 
For  he  saith  to  Moses  [Ex.  33:19.  Surely  if  the 
Scripture  generally  was  final  authority  to  the  Jew, 
that  part  of  it  would  be  least  questioned  wherein  God 
is  the  speaker  and  Moses  the  reporter],  I  will  have 
mercy  on  whom  I  have  mercy  [God  chooses  both 
the  occasion  and  the  object  of  mercy,  and  it  is  not 
regulated  by  anything  external  to  him.  That  which 
is  bestowed  upon  the  meritorious  and  deserving  is 
not  pure  mercy;  for,  as  Shakespeare  expresses  it, 
''The  quality  of  mercy  is  not  strained"],  and  I  will 
have  compassion  on  whom  I  have  compassion.  [Com- 
passion is  a  stronger  term  than  mercy;  it  is  mercy 
with  the  heart  in  it.  The  words  quoted  were  spoken 
to  Moses  when  he  requested  to  see  God,  and  his  re- 
quest was  in  part  granted.  In  expounding  Ex.  33 :  19, 
Keil  and  Delitzsch  speak  thus:  "These  words,  though 
only  connected  with  the  previous  clause  by  the 
copulative  vav,  are  to  be  understood  in  a  causal 
sense  as  expressing  the  reason  why  Moses'  request 
was  granted,  that  it  was  an  act  of  unconditional  grace 
and  compassion  on  the  part  of  God,  to  which  no  man, 


REJECTION   NOT   INCONSISTENT       395 

not  even  Moses,  could  lay  any  just  claim."  This  in- 
terpretation is  strengthened  by  the  Old  Testament 
reading,  which  runs  thus:  'T  will  be  gracious  to 
whom  I  will  be  gracious,  and  will  show  mercy  on 
whom  I  will  show  mercy,"  for  the  act  was  one  of 
grace  rather  than  of  compassion.  Let  us  remember 
that  Paul  is  here  addressing  a  hypothetical  Jewish 
objector.  The  Jew,  influenced  by  false  reasoning  on 
his  law,  held  a  theory  that  man's  conduct  regulated 
God's  and  that  man  took  the  initiative  and  that  God's 
actions  were  merely  responsive.  Such  might,  in  some 
measure,  have  been  the  case  had  any  man  ever  kept 
the  law;  but  as  things  actually  stood,  to  the  sub- 
version of  all  such  things,  it  was  evident  from  Scrip- 
ture that  Moses,  the  great  lawgiver,  himself  had 
never  been  able  to  merit  a  favor  at  God's  hands,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  God  granted  that  to  him  as  a  matter 
of  gracious  mercy  which  he  could  never  claim  as  a 
matter  of  right;  viz.,  not  eternal  life  with  God,  but 
the  mere  momentary  glimpse  of  the  passing  of  God's 
glory.  Surely,  with  such  a  precedent  before  him,  the 
rational,  thoughtful  Jew,  whether  of  Paul's  day  or 
of  our  own,  could  and  can  have  small  hope  of  gaining 
heaven  by  the  works  of  the  law.  Since  it  is  true  that 
Abraham  obtained  favor  by  faith  and  Moses  received 
it  solely  by  grace,  who  shall  win  it  by  merit  under 
the  law?]  16  So  then  [With  these  words  Paul  intro- 
duces the  answer  to  the  question  in  verse  14,  as  in- 
ferred or  deduced  from  the  citation  in  verse  15;  as 
though  he  said,  "As  a  conclusion  from  what  I  have 
cited,  it  is  proven  that  as  to  the  obtaining  of  God's 
favor"]  it  is  not  [the  accomplishment]  of  him  that 
willeth  [of  him.  that  wants  it],  nor  of  him  that  run- 
neth [of  him  that  ardently  strives,  or  offers  works  for 
it,  as  a  runner  does  for  his  prize],  but  of  God  that 
hath  mercy.  [Many  expositors,  following  Theophy- 
lact,  refer  this  "willing"  to  Isaac,  who  sought  to  bless 
Esau  against  God's  choice  in  Jacob,  and  refer  the  run- 
ning to  that  of  Esau,  who  ran  tg  get  the  venison. 
But  that  running  of  Esau  was  too  literal;  it  lacked  in 


396  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

that  moral  effort  Godward  which  Paul's  argument 
implies.  Others,  as  Meyer,  Godet,  etc.,  confine  the 
willing  and  running  to  Moses,  but  this,  too,  is  objec- 
tionable, as  too  narrow  a  base  for  so  broad  a  principle. 
Paul  includes  Abraham,  Isaac,  Ishmael,  Jacob,  Esau, 
Moses,  and  all  like  them.  No  man  is  chosen  of  God 
because  he  chooses  or  strives  to  be  chosen  till  God 
has  first  chosen  him  (John  15:16-19).  The  first 
choice  rests  in  the  will  of  God.  If  God  did  not  call 
all  (John  3:16;  Tit.  2:11;  Rev.  22:17)  and  choose 
all  who  respond  by  sincerely  wishing  and  striving  to 
be  chosen,  the  dark  side  of  Calvinism  might  indeed 
be  true.  Originally  there  was  no  curb  to  the  freedom 
of  God  in  dealing  with  fallen  man  save  the  unspeak- 
able mercy  and  goodness  of  God.  Justice  at  that  time 
afforded  no  curb ;  for  man  was  a  sinner  without  means 
of  propitiation  or  atonement,  and  stood  condemned  by 
justice.  The  verbal  form  ''runneth,"  though  it  comes 
in  abruptly,  is  not  of  special,  but  of  general,  reference 
("him"  being  equivalent  to  "any  one"),  and  indicates 
strenuous  moral  effect  toward  God,  or  salvation  (Ps. 
119:32).  It  is  part  of  the  old  and  familiar  figure 
wherein  life  is  regarded  as  a  race  or  "course,"  moral 
eft'ort  being  a  "running"  therein  (see  comment,  Rom. 
9:31,  32).  This  figure  is  so  well  known  that  it  is 
customarily  introduced  thus  abruptly  (Acts  13 :  25 ; 
20:24;  2  Tim.  4:6,  7).  The  use  of  the  verb  "to  run" 
is  as  common  as  the  noun  "course,"  and  is  also 
brought  in  abruptly,  as  needing  no  gloss  (Gal.  2:2; 
5:7;  Phil.  2:16;  Heb.  12:1.  Comp.  Phil.  3: 11-14  and 
1  Cor.  9 :  24-26,  where  the  apostle  elaborates  the 
figure).  These  very  references  to  Paul's  use  of  this 
figure  afford  abundant  proof  that  after  God  chooses 
us  (and  he  has  now  chosen  us  all,  for  he  would  not 
that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  men  be  saved,  and 
come  unto  the  knowledge  of  the  truth — 2  Pet.  3 : 9 
1  Tim.  2:4;  Rom.  2:4;  Tit.  2:11:  Ezek.  18:23,  32 
33:11),  then  everything  depends  upon  our  "willing' 
(Luke  13:  34;  Acts  13:46)  and  "running,"  for  we  our- 
selves having  obtained  of  God's  free  will  and  grace  a 


REJECTION   NOT  INCONSISTENT       397 

calling  and  election,  must  of  ourselves  make  that  call- 
ing and  election  sure  (2  Pet.  1 :  10,  11)  ;  yea,  we  must 
work  out  our  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling 
and  the  aid  of  God  (Phil.  2:  12),  and  must  so  "run" 
that  we  may  obtain.  Paul  is  here  proving  the  unfettered 
freedom  of  the  Almighty  before  he  gave  the  gospel. 
A  freedom  which  permitted  him  to  give  it  when,  how, 
where  and  to  whom  he  chose,  save  as  he  had 
gradually  limited  himself,  slightly,  from  time  to  time, 
by  his  promises.  This  freedom  permitted  him  at  last 
to  give  such  a  gospel  that  the  self-righteous  Jews  saw 
fit  to  reject  it  and  become  castaways.  Paul  in  all  his 
argument  says  never  a  word  about  God's  limitations 
in  the  gospel  after  the  gospel  was  given ;  for  they 
have  nothing  to  do  with  his  argument  which  relates 
to  God's  freedom  when  preparing  the  gospel  and 
before  the  gospel  was  given.  Failure  to  note  this 
simple,  obvious  distinction  has  brought  forth  that 
abortive  system  of  inexorable  logic  called  Calvinism, 
which  has  gone  near  to  attribute  both  the  sins  of 
man  and  the  iniquities  of  the  devil  to  God  himself. 
God  zvas  free,  but  in  his  goodness  he  chose  to  provide 
salvation  to  those  who  would  accept  it  on  his  condi- 
tions. Thus  the  Lord,  being  free,  chose  to  be  bound 
by  his  covenants  and  promises,  even  as  the  Lord 
Jesus,  being  rich,  chose  to  be  poor  (2  Cor.  8:9).  Paul 
proves  God's  past  freedom ;  no  one  save  the  Jew  of 
his  day  ever  denied  it;  but  to  say  that  Paul  estab- 
lishes a  present  freedom  and  absolute  sovereignty  in 
God,  which  robs  man  of  his  freedom  to  do  right,  or 
wrong;  repent,  or  continue  in  sin;  accept  Christ,  or 
reject  him,  etc.,  is  to  dynamite  the  gospel,  and  blast 
to  shivers  the  entire  rock  of  New  Testament  Scrip- 
ture. Calvinism  denies  to  God  the  possibility  of  mak- 
ing a  covenant,  or  giving  a  promise,  for  each  of  these 
is  a  forfeiture  of  freedom,  a  limitation  of  liberty.  Ac- 
cording to  Calvinism,  God  is  absolutely  free ;  accord- 
ing to  the  Scripture,  he  is  free  save  where  he  has 
pledged  himself  to  man  in  the  gospel.]  17  For  the 
scripture    [Paul    is    still    answering    the    question    at 


398  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

verse  14  by  Scripture  citation]  saith  unto  Pharaoh  [We 
have  had  election  choosing  between  Ishmael  and 
Isaac,  and  Esau  and  Jacob :  we  now  have  it  choosing 
between  a  third  pair,  Moses  and  Pharaoh.  In  the  first 
case  God  blessed  both  Isaac  and  Ishmael  with  prom- 
ises (Gen.  17:20;  21:13,  18,  20);  in  the  second  case 
he  blessed  Jacob  and  withheld  his  promise  from  Esau ; 
in  the  third  case  he  granted  favor  to  Moses,  and 
meted  out  punishment  to  Pharaoh.  Thus  there  is  a 
marked  progress  in  reprobation  in  the  three  non-elect 
characters,  which  is  suggestive,  since  Israel  was  thrice 
given  over  to  a  reprobate  mind,  and  each  punishment 
was  more  intense.  First,  all  were  rejected  in  the 
wilderness,  but  all  their  children  were  permitted  to 
enter  the  promised  land — time,  forty  years ;  second,  all 
were  rejected  at  the  carrying  away  into  Babylon,  and 
only  a  small  body  were  permitted  to  return — time, 
seventy  years;  third,  the  race  as  a  race  was  rejected 
in  Paul's  day  and  only  a  remnant  will,  even  at  the 
end,  be  restored  (Isa.  10:22,  23;  1:9) — time,  about 
nineteen  hundred  years],  For  this  very  purpose  did  I 
raise  thee  up  [caused  thee  to  occupy  a  time  and  place 
which  made  thee  conspicuous  in  sacred  history],  that 
I  might  show  in  thee  my  power,  and  that  my  name 
might  be  published  abroad  in  all  the  earth.  [For  the 
publishing  of  God's  name,  see  Ex.  15:14-16;  Josh. 
2:9,  10;  9:9.  The  dispersion  of  the  Jews  and  the 
spread  of  Christianity  have  kept  God's  name  glorified 
in  the  history  of  Pharaoh  to  this  day.  Paul  is  still 
establishing  by  Scripture  God's  freedom  of  choice. 
He  chose  the  unborn  in  preference  to  the  born ;  he 
chose  between  unborn  twins ;  he  chose  between  the 
shepherd  Moses  and  Pharaoh  the  king.  In  this  last 
choice  Moses  was  chosen  as  an  object  of  mercy,  and 
Pharaoh  as  a  creature  of  wrath,  but  his  latter  choice 
in  no  way  violates  even  man's  sense  of  justice.  In- 
stead of  raising  up  a  weak  and  timid  owner  of  the 
Hebrew  slaves,  God  exalted  Pharaoh,  the  stubborn, 
the  fearless.  And  who  would  question  God's  right  to 
do   this?     Having   put    Pharaoh    in    power,    God    so 


REJECTION   NOT   INCONSISTENT       399 

managed  the  contest  with  him  that  his  stubbornness 
was  fully  developed  and  made  manifest,  and  in  over- 
coming- his  power  and  stubbornness  through  the 
weakness  of  Moses,  God  showed  his  power.  The 
transaction  is  very  complex.  God  starts  by  stating 
the  determined  nature  of  Pharaoh  (Ex.  3:  19)  and  fol- 
lows the  statement  with  the  thrice  repeated  promise, 
"I  will  harden  his  heart"  (Ex.  4:21;  7:3;  14:4. 
Comp.  14:  17).  Once  Jehovah  says,  "I  have  hardened 
his  heart"  (Ex.  10:1).  Thrice  it  is  said  that  his 
''heart  was  hardened  as  Jehovah  had  spoken"  (Ex.  7: 
13;  8:19;  9:35).  Once  it  reads  that  his  ''heart  was 
hardened,  and  he  hearkened  not  unto  them ;  as  Jeho- 
vah had  spoken"  (Ex.  7:  22).  Five  times  we  read  that 
"Jehovah  hardened"  his  heart  (Ex.  9:12;  10:20;  10: 
27;  11:  10;  14:8).  Thus  thirteen  times  (with  Ex.8:  15, 
fourteen  times)  Pharaoh's  hardness  of  heart  is  said  to 
be  the  act  of  God.  (Comp.  Deut.  2:30;  Josh.  11:20; 
Isa.  63  :  17 ;  John  12  :  40 ;  9 :  39  ;  Mark  4 :  12.)  Inexor- 
ably so?  By  no  means:  God  would  have  gotten  honor 
had  he  relented  before  matters  reached  extremes. 
Hence  Pharaoh  is  called  upon  to  repent  (Ex.  10:3), 
and  several  times  he  is  near  repenting,  and  might 
have  done  so  had  not  God  been  too  ready  to  show 
mercy  (Ex.  8  :  28 ;  9 :  27 ;  10 :  24).  So  there  was  sin  in 
Pharaoh.  We  read  that  his  "heart  is  stubborn"  (Ex. 
7:14);  "was  stubborn"  (Ex.  9:7).  "Pharaoh  hard- 
ened his  heart,  and  hearkened  not  unto  them,  as  Jeho- 
vah had  spoken"  (Ex.  8:  15).  "Pharaoh  hardened  his 
heart"  (Ex.  8 :  32 ;  1  Sam.  6:6).  "Pharaoh  sinned  yet 
more,  and  hardened  his  heart"  (Ex.  9:34).  As  the 
hardening  was  the  joint  work  of  Pharaoh  and  God, 
and  as  Pharaoh  sinned  in  hardening  his  heart,  God's 
part  in  the  hardening  was  not  an  absolute,  overmas- 
tering act.  It  was  not  even  a  persuasive  act,  as  in 
cases  of  conversion.  God  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart  by 
providing  opportunity  and  occasion,  as  the  narrative 
shows,  and  Pharaoh  did  the  rest  by  improving  the 
opportunity  in  the  service  of  the  devil.  The  same  act 
of  patience,  forbearance  and  mercy  which  softens  one 


400  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

heart,  hardens  another  by  delaying  punishment,  as  we 
may  see  every  day.  The  same  sunshine  that  quickens 
the  hve  seed,  rots  the  dead  one.  The  Jews  approved 
God's  course  toward  Pharaoh,  but  resented  the  same 
treatment  when  turned  upon  themselves,  ignoring  the 
natural  law  that  like  causes  produce  like  effects.  God 
found  Pharaoh  hard  and  used  him  for  his  glory 
negatively.  He  found  Israel  hard  and  made  the  same 
negative  use  of  them,  causing  the  gospel  to  succeed 
without  them,  thus  provoking  them  to  jealousy 
—Rom.  10:19.]  18  So  then  [see  verse  16]  he  hath 
mercy  on  whom  he  will,  and  whom  he  will  he  hard- 
eneth.  [This  does  not  mean  that  God  arbitrarily 
chooses  the  worst  people  upon  whom  to  shower  his 
mercies,  and  chooses  those  who  are  trying  hard  to  serve 
him  and  hardens  them  that  he  may  punish  them.  The 
point  is  that,  in  the  absence  of  any  promise  or  other 
self-imposed  limitation,  God  is  free  to  choose  whom 
he  will  for  what  he  will.  As  applicable  to  Paul's 
argument,  it  means  that  God's  freedom  of  choice  is 
not  bound  by  man's  judgment  or  estimation,  for  he 
may  prefer  the  publican  to  the  Pharisee  (Luke  18:9- 
14)  and  may  choose  rather  to  be  known  as  the  friend 
of  sinners  than  the  companion  of  the  rulers  and  chief 
priests,  and  he  may  elect  the  hedge-row  Gentile  to 
the  exclusion  of  invited  but  indifferent  Jews  (Luke 
14:23,  24).  God  is  bound  by  his  nature  to  choose 
justly  and  righteously,  but  all  history  shows  that  man 
can  not  depend  upon  his  sin-debased  judgment  when 
he  attempts  to  specify  what  or  whom  God  approves 
or  rejects.  Here  we  must  be  guided  wholly  by  his 
word,  and  must  also  be  prayerfully  careful  not  to 
wrest  it.  In  short,  it  is  safer  to  say  that  God  chooses 
absolutely,  than  to  say  that  God  chooses  according 
to  my  judgment,  for  human  judgment  must  rarely 
square  with  the  divine  mind.  Had  the  Jew  accepted 
Paul's  proposition,  he  might  centuries  ago  have  seen 
the  obvious  fact  that  God  has  chosen  the  Gentiles  and 
rejected  him ;  but,  persisting  in  his  erroneous  theory 
that  God's  judgment  and  choice  must  follow  his  own 


REJECTION  NOT  INCONSISTENT       401 

petty  notions  and  whims,  he  is  blind  to  that  Hberty  of 
God's  of  which  the  apostle  wrote,  and  naturally — 

"For,  Och !  mankind  are  unco  weak, 
An'  litde  to  be  trusted; 
If  self  the   wavering  balance  shake, 
It's  rarely  right  adjusted!"] 


IV. 

GOD'S    ABSOLUTE    POWER    ASSERTED— HIS 
JUSTICE   VINDICATED   AND   ALSO   HIS 
COURSE  IN  REJECTING  THE  UN- 
BELIEVING  JEWS    AND   AC- 
CEPTING THE  BELIEV- 
ING GENTILES. 

9:19-29. 

19  Thou  wilt  say  then  unto  me,  Why  doth  he  still 
find  fault?  [That  God  actually  and  always  does  find 
faidt  with  sinners  is  a  fact  never  to  be  overlooked, 
and  is  also  a  fact  which  shows  beyond  all  question  or 
peradventure  that  God  abhors  evil  and  takes  no 
positive  steps  toward  its  production.  Even  in  the 
case  cited  by  Paul,  where  God  hardened  Pharaoh's 
heart,  the  act  of  God  was  permissive,  for  else  how 
could  the  Lord  expostulate  with  Pharaoh  for  a  rebel- 
lious spirit  for  which  God  himself  was  responsible? 
(Ex.  9: 17;  10:3,  4.)  Again,  let  us  consider  the  case 
in  point.  If  God  hardened  Israel  by  positive  act,  why 
did  his  representative  and  "express  image"  weep  over 
Jerusalem?  and  why  was  the  Book  of  Romans  writ- 
ten?] For  who  withstandeth  his  will?  [Since  Paul 
is  still  justifying  God  in  formulating  a  gospel  which 
results  in  the  condemnation  of  Jews  and  the  saving 
of  Gentiles,  this  objector  is  naturally  either  a  Jew  or 
some  one  speaking  from  the  Jewish  standpoint,  This 
fact  is  made  more  apparent  in  the  subsequent  verses, 
for  in  them  the  apostle  appropriately  answers  the  Jew 


402  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

out  of  his  Jewish  Scriptures.  The  objection  runs 
thus :  But,  Paul,  if  God  shows  mercy  to  whom  he  will, 
and  if  he  hardens  whom  he  will,  then  it  is  he  who  has 
hardened  us  Jews  in  unbelief  against  the  gospel. 
Why,  then,  does  he  still  find  fault  with  us,  since  he 
himself,  according  to  your  argument,  has  excluded 
us  from  blessedness,  and  made  us  unfit  for  mercy? 
This  reply  implies  three  things:  1.  God,  not  the  Jew, 
was  at  fault.  2.  The  Jew  was  ill  used  of  God,  in  be- 
ing deprived  of  blessing  through  hardening.  3.  The 
rewards  of  saints  and  sinners  should  be  equal,  since 
each  did  God's  will  absolutely  in  the  several  fields  of 
good  and  evil  where  God  had  elected  each  to  work. 
To  each  of  these  three  implications  the  apostle  replies 
with  lightning-like  brevity:  1.  It  is  impious,  O  man, 
to  so  argue  in  self-justification  as  to  compromise  the 
good  name  of  God.  2.  It  is  folly  for  the  thing  formed 
to  complain  against  him  that  formed  it.  3.  Rewards 
and  destinies  need  not  be  equal,  since,  for  instance, 
the  potter  out  of  the  same  lump  forms  vessels  for  dif- 
ferent destinies,  whether  of  honor  or  dishonor.  But 
it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  the  last  of  these 
three  brief  answers  the  apostle  aims  rather,  as  Alford 
says,  "at  striking  dumb  the  objector  by  a  statement  of 
God's  indubitable  right,  against  which  it  does  not  be- 
come us  men  to  murmur,  than  at  unfolding  to  us  the 
actual  state  of  the  case."  Let  us  now  consider  the 
three  answers  in  detail.]  20  Nay  but  [One  word 
in  Greek;  viz.,  the  particle  menonnge.  "This  particle 
is,"  says  Hodge,  "often  used  in  replies,  and  is  partly 
concessive  and  partly  corrective,  as  in  Luke  11:28, 
where  it  is  rendered,  yea,  rather;  in  Rom.  10 :  18,  yes, 
verily.  It  may  here,  as  elsewhere,  have  an  ironical 
force.  Sometimes  it  is  strongly  affirmative,  as  in  Phil. 
3 : 8,  and  at  others  introduces,  as  here,  a  strong  nega- 
tion or  repudiation  of  what  has  been  said."  "I  do  not 
examine  the  intrinsic  verity  of  what  you  allege,  but, 
be  that  as  it  may,  this  much  is  certain,  that  you  are 
not  in  a  position  to  dispute  with  God" — Godet],  O 
man   ["Man"  stands  at  the  beginning  and  "God"  at 


COD'S   ABSOLUTE   POWER    ASSERTED  403 

the  end  of  the  clause  to  emphasize  the  contrast.  Man, 
thou  feeble  morsel  of  sinful  dust,  wilt  thou  wrangle 
with  God!],  who  art  thou  that  repliest  against  God? 
["That  chattest  and  w.ordest  it  with  him"  (Trapp), 
"Repliest"  signifies  an  answer  to  an  answer.  It  sug- 
gests, to  those  familiar  with  legal  parlance,  the  decla- 
ration and  answer,  the  replication  and  rejoinder,  the 
rebutter  and  surrebutter  to  the  limits  both  of  human 
impudence  and  divine  patience.  Before  answering  the 
objection,  Paul,  therefore,  felt  it  necessary  to  rebuke 
the  impious  presumption  of  the  objector.  It  is  per- 
missible to  fathom  and  understand  what  God  reveals 
about  himself,  but  it  is  not  allowable  for  us,  out  of 
our  own  sense  of  justice,  arrogantly  and  confidently 
to.  fix  and  formulate  what  principles  must  guide  God 
in  his  judging.  To  do  this  is  to  incur  the  censure 
meted  out  to  Job  (Job  38-41).  "No  man,"  says  Hal- 
dane,  "has  a  right  to  bring  God  to  trial."  Man's 
understanding  is  not  adequate  to  such  a  task.]  Shall 
the  thing  formed  say  to  him  that  formed  it,  Why  didst 
thou  make  me  thus?  [In  the  Greek  the  form  of  the 
question  indicates  that  a  negative  answer  is  expected. 
The  question  is  not  a  quotation,  but  rather  "an  echo" 
of  Isa.  29 :  16  and  45 : 9.  "Formed"  implies,  not  cre- 
ation, but  subsequent  ethical  moulding.  God  does 
not  create  us  evil,  but  we  are  born  into  a  world  w^hich, 
if  not  resisted,  will  form  us  thus.  This  is  the  actual 
work  of  God  in  the  case.  If  we  find  ourselves  formed 
after  the  pattern  of  evil,  can  we,  in  the  light  of  all 
that  he  has  done  in  the  gospel,  censure  God  for  our 
life-result?  Being  insensate,  the  wood  can  not  quarrel 
with  the  carpenter,  nor  the  iron  with  the  smith. 
Being  sensate,  and  knowing  the  grace  of  God,  and  his 
own  free  will,  man  also  is  silent,  and  can  render  no 
complaint.  The  free  will  of  man  is  an  offset  to  the 
insensibility  of  the  wood  and  iron,  and  makes  their 
cases  equal,  or,  legally  speaking,  "on  all  fours."  In- 
animate material  can  not  complain  of  malformation, 
for  it  lacks  understanding  of  the  facts;  but  man,  hav- 
ing understanding,  likewise  can  not  complain,  for  the 


404  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

malformation  was  his  own  free  choice.  Speaking 
mathematically,  the  "free  will"  cancels  the  "lack  of 
understanding/'  and  leaves  the  animate  and  the  in- 
animate equal,  and  therefore  alike  silent  as  to  the 
results  of  the  processes  of  moulding.]  21  Or  [This 
word  presents  a  dilemma,  thus :  Either  the  clay  (thing 
formed)  has  no  right  to  question,  or  the  potter  has  no 
right  to  dictate.  In  the  Greek  the  form  of  the  question 
indicates  the  affirmative  answer:  "The  potter  has  a 
right  to  dictate"]  hath  not  the  potter  a  right  over  the 
clay,  from  the  same  lump  to  make  one  part  a  vessel 
unto  honor,  and  another  [part  of  the  lump  a  vessel] 
unto  dishonor?  [God  is  the  potter,  the  human  race  is 
the  clay,  and  the  vessels  are  nations.  Being  under 
obligations  to  none,  for  all,  having  fallen  into  sin,  had 
thereby  forfeited  his  regard  and  care  as  Creator,  God, 
for  the  good  of  all,  made  election  that  the  Jewish 
nation  should  be  a  vessel  of  honor  (Acts  13:17)  to 
hold  the  truth  (2  Cor.  4:7;  Rom.  3:1,  2),  the  cove- 
nants and  the  progenital  line  through  which  came  the 
Messiah.  Later  he  chose  the  Egyptians  as  a  vessel 
of  dishonor,  to  be  punished  for  their  abuse  of  the  cove- 
nant people,  and  the  murder  of  their  little  ones.  In 
PauFs  day  he  was  choosing  Gentiles  (Europeans)  as 
vessels  of  honor  to  hold  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel. 
This  choosing  and  forming  is  to  the  prejudice  of  no 
man's  salvation,  for  all  are  invited  in  matters  pertain- 
ing to  eternal  life,  and  each  temporal  election  is  for 
the  eternal  benefit  of  all.  Potter's  clay  and  potter's 
vessels  are  used  to  indicate  national  weakness  (Dan  2: 
41-44 ;  Lam.  4:2;  Isa.  41 :  25  ;  Ps.  2  :  9  ;  Rev.  2  :  26,^  27) 
and  national  dependence  (Isa.  64:8-12)  and  national 
punishment  (Jer.  19:1,  10-13;  Isa.  30:14).  It  is  a 
national  figure  (Ecclus.  33:10-12),  yet  it  recognizes 
national  free  will  (Jer.  18 :  1-12).  In  the  single  instance 
where  it  is  used  individually y  it  is  employed  by  Paul  in  a 
passage  very  similar  to  this,  yet  clearly  recognizing  the 
power  of  human  vessels  to  change  destinies  by  the 
exercise  of  free  will  (2  Tim.  2:20,  21).  But  no  in- 
dividual vessel  is  one  of  honor  till  cleansed  by  blood 


GOD'S   ABSOLUTE    POWER   ASSERTED  405 

(Hel).  9:21,  22;  Acts  9:15;  22:14-16),  and  who  will 
say  that  a  vessel  cleansed  in  Christ's  blood  is  one  of 
dishonor?  And  we  are  cleansed  or  not  according  to 
our  own  free  choice.]  22  What  if  [With  these  words 
Paul  introduces  his  real  answer  to  the  question  asked 
in  verse  19.  The  full  idea  runs  thus  :  "I  have  answered 
your  impudent  question  by  an  assertion  of  the  ab- 
solute right  of  God,  which  you  can  not  deny  (Prov. 
26 :  5  ;  Ps.  18 :  26) .  But  what  zvill  you  say  if,  etc.'*  If  the 
absolute  abstract  right  of  God  puts  man  to  silence, 
how  much  more  must  he  be  silent  before  the  actual, 
applied  mercy  and  grace  of  God  which  forbears  to  use 
the  right  because  of  his  longsufifering  pity  toward  the 
impenitent,  and  his  forgiving  leniency  tow^ard  the  re- 
pentant. Paul  asserts  the  absolute  right  of  God,  but 
denies  that  he  applies  it.  Herein  he  differs  from  Cal- 
vinism, which  insists  that  he  applies  it]  God,  willing 
to  show  his  wrath,  and  to  make  his  power  known, 
endured  with  much  longsuffering  vessels  of  wrath 
fitted  unto  destruction  [And  now,  O  man,  how  silent 
must  you  be  if  it  appears  that  God,  although  willing 
to  show  his  displeasure  against  wickedness,  and  ready 
to  show  his  power  to  crush  its  designs,  nevertheless 
endured  with  much  longsuffering  evil  men  whose  con- 
duct had  already  fitted  them  for,  or  made  them  worthy 
of,  destruction.  Paul  has  already  told  us  that  the  long- 
suffering  of  God  is  exercised  to  induce  repentance, 
though  its  abuse  may  incidentally  increase  both  wrath 
and  punishment  (Rom.  2:4-11).  It  is  not  affirmed 
that  God  ''fitted"  these  evil  ones  for  destruction. 
''And,"  says  Barnes,  "there  is  an  evident  design  in  not 
affirming  it,  and  a  distinction  made  between  them  and 
the  vessels  of  mercy  which  ought  to  be  regarded.  In 
relation  to  the  latter  it  is  expressly  affirmed  that  God 
fitted  or  prepared  them  for  glory.  (See  vs.  23.) 
'Which  He  had  afore  prepared  unto  glory.'  The 
same  distinction  is  remarkably  striking  in  the  account 
of  the  last  judgment  in  Matt.  25 :  34-41.  To  the  right- 
eous, Christ  will  say,  'Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father, 
inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you,'  etc.     To  the 

27 


406  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

wicked,  'Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting 
fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels  ;'  not  said 
to  have  been  originally  prepared  for  them.  It  is  clear, 
therefore,  that  God  intends  to  keep  the  great  truth  in 
view,  that  he  prepares  his  people  by  direct  agency  for 
heaven ;  but  that  he  exerts  no  such  agency  in  pre- 
paring the  wicked  for  destruction."  No  potter,  either 
divine  or  human,  ever  made  vessels  just  to  destroy 
them.  But  any  potter,  finding  a  vessel  suited  to  a 
dishonorable  use,  may  so  use  it,  and  may  afterwards 
destroy  it.  How  the  Jews  "fitted"  themselves  for 
destruction  is  told  elsewhere  by  the  apostle — 1  Thess. 
2: 15,  16] :  23  and  [A  copula  of  thoughts,  rather  than 
of  clauses :  God  spared  the  wicked  because  of  long- 
suffering  mercy  to  them,  and  because  they  could  be 
used  to  aid  him  in  making  known  the  riches  of  his 
glory  upon  vessels  of  mercy.  Without  attempting  to 
show  that  God's  patience  with  the  godless  aids  him  to 
win  the  godly,  we  will  let  it  suffice  to  say  that  God 
spares  the  wicked  for  the  sake  of  the  righteous,  lest 
the  hasty  uprooting  of  the  former  might  jeopardize  the 
safety  of  the  latter— Matt.  13:28-30]  that  [he  showed 
longsuffering  to  the  wicked,  in  order  that]  he  might 
make  known  the  riches  of  his  glory  [God's  glory  is 
his  holiness,  his  perfection ;  ''riches,"  as  Bengel  ob- 
serves, "of  goodness,  grace,  mercy,  wisdom,  omnip- 
otence"] upon  vessels  of  mercy,  which  he  afore  pre- 
pared unto  glory  [It  is  much  disputed  whether  the 
"glory"  here  mentioned  is  the  temporal  honor  of  being 
a  church  militant,  a  covenant  people,  a  temple  of  the 
Spirit  (Eph.  2:22),  a  new  dispensation  of  grace  sup- 
planting that  of  the  law  (glories  won  by  the  Gentiles, 
and  lost  by  the  Jews),  or  whether  it  refers  to  the 
glory  of  the  land  celestial,  and  the  bliss  of  heaven. 
The  context  favors  the  latter  view,  for  "glory"  is  the 
antithesis  of  "destruction"  in  the  parallel  clause,  and 
destruction  can  refer  to  nothing  temporal.  By  com- 
paring the  two  parallel  clauses,  Gifford  deduces  the 
following:  "We  see  (1)  that  St.  Paul  is  here  speaking, 
not   of  election   or   predestination,   but   of  an   actual 


GOD'S  ABSOLUTE  POWER  ASSERTED  407 

preparation  and  purgation  undergone  by  vessels  of 
mercy  to  fit  them  for-  glory,  before  God  'makes  known 
the  riches  of  his  glory  upon  them.'  Compare  2  Tim.  2 : 
20,  21,  a  passage  which  evidently  looks  back  on  this. 
(2)  We  observe  that  this  preparation,  unlike  that  by 
which  'vessels  of  wrath'  are  fitted  for  destruction/  is 
ascribed  directly  and  exclusively  to  God  as  its  author, 
being  wholly  brought  about  by  his  providence  and 
prevenient  grace.  The  idea  of  fitness,  akin  to  that  of 
desert,  is  ascribed  only  to  the  vessels  of  wrath.  The 
vessels  of  mercy  God  has  made  ready  for  glory,  but 
there  is  no  idea  of  merit  involved"],  24  even  us,  whom 
he  also  called,  not  from  the  Jews  only,  but  also  from 
the  Gentiles?  [The  apostle  ends  his  question  with  a 
clear  specification  of  who  the  vessels  of  mercy  are. 
They  are  those  called  impartially  from  both  Jews  and 
Gentiles.  "In  calling  to  salvation,"  says  Lard,  *'God 
is  equally  merciful  to  all.  He  sends  to  all  the  same 
Christ,  the  same  gospel ;  on  them  he  spends  the  same 
influences,  and  to  them  presents  the  same  incentives 
to  duty.  But  beyond  this  he  strictly  discriminates  in 
bestowing  mercy.  He  bestows  it  on  those  only  that 
obey  his  Son.  On  the  rest  he  will  one  day  pour  out 
his  wrath."  We  may  add,  that  toward  those  who  ac- 
cept his  call  he  is  equally  impartial  in  preparing  for 
glory,  giving  them  the  same  remission  of  sins,  the 
same  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  same  promises,  etc. 
But  the  impartiality  which  the  apostle  emphasizes  is 
that  which  gave  no  preference  to  the  Jew.]  25  As  he 
saith  also  in  Hosea  [Paul  does  not  seek  to  prove  his 
question  about  God's  grace  to  the  wicked  which  he 
exercises  instead  of  his  right  to  immediate  punishment 
— that  needs  no  proof.  That  God  wishes  to  save  all, 
and  hath  no  pleasure  in  the  damnation  of  any,  has 
always  been  Scripturally  plain.  What  he  now  seeks 
to  prove  is  his  last  assertion  about  impartiality.  He 
has  shown  out  of  the  Scriptures  that  God  has  elected 
between  the  apparently  elect ;  he  now  wishes  to  also 
show,  out  of  the  same  Scriptures,  that  he  has  elected 
the  apparently  non-elect — viz.,  the  Gentiles — and  that 


408  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

the  apparently  elect,  or  Jews,  are  all  to  be  rejected 
save  a  remnant.  The  first  quotation  is  a  compilation 
of  Hos.  2 :  23  and  1 :  10.  The  translation  is  from  the 
Hebrew,  modified  by  the  LXX.,  and  by  Paul,  but  not 
so  as  to  affect  the  meaning.  It  reads  thus:],  I  will 
call  that  my  people,  which  was  not  my  people;  And 
her  beloved,  that  was  not  beloved.  26  And  it  shall  be 
[shall  come  to  pass],  that  in  the  place  where  it  was 
said  unto  them.  Ye  are  not  my  people.  There  shall 
they  be  called  sons  of  the  living  God.  [These  verses 
originally  apply  to  the  to-be-returned-and-reinstated 
ten  tribes,  after  the  devastation  and  deportation  in- 
flicted by  the  Assyrians.  To  illustrate  the  stages  in  the 
rejection  of  Israel,  Hosea  was  to  take  a  wife  and  name 
his  daughter  by  her  Lo-ruhamah,  which  means,  "that 
hath  not  obtained  mercy"  (1  Pet.  2:10),  which  Paul 
translates  "not  beloved";  and  the  son  by  her  he  was 
to  name  Lo-ammi ;  i.  e.,  "not  my  people."  This  sym- 
bolic action  is  followed  by  the  prophecy  (not  yet  ful- 
filled) that  the  day  should  come  when  "Lo-ruhamah" 
would  be  changed  to  "Ruhamah,"  "that  which  hath 
obtained  mercy"  or  "beloved";  and  "Lo-ammi"  would 
be  changed  to  "Ammi,"  "my  people."  Some  expositors 
have  been  at  a  loss  to  see  how  Paul  could  find  in  this 
prophecy  concerning  Israel  a  prediction  relating  to  the 
call  of  the  Gentiles.  But  the  prophecy  and  the  facts 
should  make  the  matter  plain.  By  calHng  them  "not 
my  people,"  God,  through  Hosea,  reduced  the  ten 
tribes  to  the  status  of  Gentiles,  who  were  likewise 
rejected  and  cast  off.  Paul  therefore  reasons  that  if 
the  restoration  of  the  ten  tribes  would  be  the  same 
as  calling  the  Gentiles,  the  prophecy  indicates  the  call 
of  Gentiles.  All  this  is  borne  out  by  the  facts  in  the 
case.  The  "lost  tribes"  are  to-day  so  completely  Gen- 
tile, that,  without  special  revelation  from  God,  their 
call  must  be  the  same  as  calling  Gentiles.  The  word 
"place"  (vs.  26)  is  significant.  The  land  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, where  the  ten  tribes  are  dispersed  and  rejected, 
and  are  become  as  Gentiles,  is  to  be  the  place  of  their 
reinstatement    and    acceptance,    and    this    acceptance 


GOD'S  ABSOLUTE  POWER  ASSERTED  409 

shall  resound  among  the  Gentiles.  This  publishing  on 
the  part  of  the  Gentiles  is  a  strong  indication  of  their 
interest,  hence  of  their  like  conversion.  Having  shown 
by  Hosea  that  the  "no-people"  or  non-elect  Gentiles 
are  clearly  marked  in  Scripture,  as  called  and  chosen, 
Paul  now  turns  to  Isaiah  to  show  that  of  the  elect,  or 
Jewish  people,  only  a  remnant  shall  be  saved.  And 
this  fact  is  the  source  of  that  grief  which  Paul  men- 
tions at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter.]  27  And  Isaiah 
crieth  [in  deep  feeling,  excessive  passion — John  1:  15; 
7:28,  37;  12:44;  Matt.  27:46]  concerning  Israel,  If 
the  number  of  the  children  of  Israel  be  as  the  sand  of 
the  sea  [thus  Isaiah  minishes  the  promise  given  to 
Abraham  (Gen.  22:17)  and  quoted  by  Hosea — Hos. 
1:  10],  it  is  the  remnant  that  shall  be  saved:  28  for 
the  Lord  will  execute  his  word  upon  the  earth,  finish- 
ing it  and  cutting  it  short.  [Isa.  10:22,  23.  This 
prophecy,  like  that  of  Hosea,  refers  to  the  return  of 
the  ten  tribes  in  the  latter  days,  and  is  therefore  an 
unfulfilled  prophecy,  save  as  it  had  a  preliminary  and 
minor  literal  fulfillment  in  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem, a  few  years  after  Paul  wrote  this  Epistle,  which 
was  the  climax  of  rejection  for  the  generation  to 
which  Paul  wrote,  and  the  full  establishment  of  that 
age-long  rejection  of  the  majority  which  pertains  unto 
this  day.  Daniel,  dealing  with  its  spiritual  fulfillment, 
foretold  that  the  labors  of  the  Christ  "confirming  the 
covenant"  with  Israel  would  only  last  a  week — a 
jubilee  week  having  in  it  eight  years,  or  from  A.  D.  26 
to  A.  D.  34  (Dan.  9:27).  How  small  the  remnant 
gathered  then !  In  the  centuries  since  how  small  the 
ingathering!  And,  alas!  now  that  we  have  come  to 
the  "latter  days"  and  the  last  gathering,  and  the  final 
literal  and  spiritual  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy,  it 
gives  us  assurance  of  no  more  than  a  mere  remnant 
still !  Verse  28,  as  given  in  full  by  Isaiah,  is  thus  hap- 
pily paraphrased  by  Riddle,  "He  (the  Lord)  is  finish- 
ing and  cutting  short  the  word  (making  it  a  fact  by 
rapid  accomplishment)  in  righteousness,  for  a  cut- 
short  word  (one  rapidly  accomplished)  will  the  Lord 


410  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

make  (execute,  render  actual)  upon  the  earth."  When 
we  consider  that  the  Lord  reckons  a  thousand  years 
as  but  a  day,  how  short  was  the  spiritual  privilege  of 
the  eight  years'  exclusive  ministry  of  Jesus  and  his 
apostles !  and  how  brief  was  the  forty  years'  (A.  D. 
30-70)  temporal  privilege  between  the  crucifixion  and 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem !  Isaiah's  word  shows  us 
that  the  final  fulfillment  will  be  also  a  brief  season,  a 
cut-short  word,  doubtless  a  repetition  of  Daniel's 
week.]  29  And,  as  Isaiah  hath  said  before  [This  may 
mean,  Isaiah  has  said  this  before  me,  so  that  I  need 
not  prophesy  myself,  but  may  appropriate  his  word, 
or,  as  earlier  expositors  (Erasmus,  Calvin,  Grotius, 
etc.)  render  it,  Isaiah  spoke  the  words  which  I  am 
about  to  quote  earlier  than  those  which  I  have  already 
quoted,  the  latter  being  Isa.  10:22,  23,  and  the  former 
being  at  Isa.  1 : 9.  Since  the  apostle  is  proving  his 
case  by  the  Scripture  and  not  resting  it  upon  his  ozvn 
authority,  the  former  reading  seems  out  of  place.  It 
would  be  somewhat  trite  in  Paul  to  state  that  Isaiah 
wrote  before  him !  It  is  objected  that  the  latter 
rendering  states  an  unimportant  fact.  What  differ- 
ence can  it  make  which  saying  came  first  or  last? 
But  it  is  not  so  much  the  order  as  the  repetition  of 
the  saying  that  the  apostle  has  in  mind.  Isaiah  did 
not  see  some  moment  of  national  disaster  in  a 
single  vision,  and  so  cry  out.  He  saw  this  destruc- 
tion of  all  save  a  remnant  in  the  very  fiist  znsion  of 
his  book,  and  it  is  the  oft-repeated  burden  and  refrain 
of  a  large  portion  of  his  prophecies],  Except  the  Lord 
of  Sabaoth  [Hebrew  for  "'hosts"]  had  left  us  a  seed 
[for  replanting],  We  had  become  as  Sodom,  and  had 
been  made  like  unto  Gomorrah.  [Like  "cities  of 
which  now,"  as  Chalmers  observes,  "no  vestige  is 
found,  and  of  whose  people  the  descendants  are  alto- 
gether lost  in  the  history  or  our  species."  (Comp.  Jer. 
50 :  40.)  In  contrast  with  these,  the  Jews,  though 
few  in  number,  have  ever  been  found  in  the  kingdom 
of  God.  Since  the  section  just  finished  is  the  strong- 
hold of  Calvinism,  we  should  not  leave  it  without  not- 


GOD'S  ABSOLUTE  POWER   ASSERTED  411 

ing  that  Simon  Peter  warns  us  not  to  put  false  con- 
struction upon  it.  He  says :  "Wherefore,  beloved,  see- 
ing that  ye  look  for  these  things"  (a  new  heaven  and 
a  new  earth),  "give  diligence  that  ye  may  be  found  in 
peace,  without  spot  and  blameless  in  his  [God's] 
sight,  and  account  that  the  longsuffering  of  our  Lord 
is  salvation;  even  as  our  beloved  brother  Paul  also, 
according  to  the  wisdom  given  to  him,  wrote  unto 
you;  as  also  in  all  his  epistles,  speaking  in  them  of 
these  things ;  wherein  are  some  things  hard  to  be 
understood,  which  the  ignorant  and  unstedfast  wrest, 
as  they  do  also  the  other  scriptures,  unto  their  own 
destruction.  Ye  therefore,  beloved,  knowing  these 
things  beforehand,  beware  lest,  being  carried  away 
with  the  error  of  the  wicked,  ye  fall  from  your  own 
stedfastness"  (2  Pet.  3:14-17).  Now,  Paul  uses  the 
word  "longsufifering"  ten  times.  Seven  times  he  speaks 
of  the  longsufifering  of  men.  Once  he  speaks  of  the 
longsufifering  of  Christ  extended  to  him  personally  and 
individually  as  chief  of  sinners.  Twice  (Rom.  2:4-11; 
9 :  19-29)  he  fills  the  measure  of  Peter's  statement,  and 
writes  that  men  should  "account  that  the  longsufifering 
of  our  Lord  is  salvation."  As  the  first  of  these  passages 
(Rom.  2:4-11)  has  never  been  in  dispute,  it  follows 
either  that  all  have  wrested  it,  or  that  none  have  wrested 
it,  so  that  in  either  case  its  history  does  not  comply 
with  Peter's  description.  The  passage  before  us,  then, 
is  the  one  which  the  ignorant  and  unsteadfast  have 
wrested,  and  that  so  seriously  that  it  has  compassed 
their  destruction.  In  further  support  of  this  identi- 
fication, note  (1)  that  this  passage  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  addressed  to  the  Jezvs,  and  it  therefore  answers 
to  the  "wrote  unto  you''  of  Peter's  letter,  which  was 
also  addressed  to  Jezvs;  (2)  while  "the  longsuffering 
of  God,"  etc.,  is  not  prominent  in  all  Paul's  Epistles, 
as  we  have  just  shown,  the  doctrine  of  election,  which 
is  the  stumbling-block  here,  is  a  common  topic  with 
the  apostle.  Since,  then,  Peter  warns  us  against 
wresting  this  section,  let  us  see  who  wrests  it.  Ac- 
cording to  Peter,  it  is  those  who  get  a  soul-destroying 


412  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

doctrine  out  of  it,  and  such  is  Calvinism.  It  is  those 
who  derive  from  it  a  doctrine  which  palsies  their 
effort,  so  that,  believing  themselves  impelled  by  inex- 
orable will  and  sovereign,  immutable  decree,  they  hold 
they  can  do  nothing  either  to  please  or  displease  God, 
and  therefore  cease  to  ''give  diligence  that  they  may 
be  found  in  peace,  without  spot  and  blameless  in  his 
sight,"  and  cease  to  "account  that  the  longsuft'ering  of 
our  Lord  is  salvation,"  and  thus,  "being  carried  away 
with  the  error  of  the  wicked"  that  human  effort  is  of 
no  avail,  they  cease  to  make  any,  and  so  "fall  from 
their  own  stedfastness."  Surely  with  so  plain  a  warn- 
ing from  so  trustworthy  a  source  we  are  foolish  in* 
deed  if  we  wrest  this  Scripture  so  as  to  make  it  con- 
tradict the  doctrines  of  human  free  will  and  respon- 
sibility so  plainly  taught  in  other  Scriptures. 

V. 

THE  GRAND  CONCLUSION  AND  ITS 
EXPLANATIONS 

9:30-11:36. 

Subdivision  A. 

THE     CONCLUSION     OF     THE     ARGU^IENT 
REACHED;    NAMELY,    GENTILES    JUSTI- 
FIED BY  FOLLOWING  GOD'S  LAW  OF 
■^AITH,    WHILE    JEWS,    FOLLOW- 
ING    THEIR     OAVN     LAW     OF 
WORKS,  ARE  CONDEMNED. 

9:30-33. 

30  What  shall  we  say  then?  ["Shall  we  raise  ob- 
jection, as  at  verse  14,  or  shall  we  at  last  rest  in  a 
correct  conclusion?  Let  us,  from  the  Scriptures  and 
facts  adduced,  reach  a  sound  conclusion."  Paul's 
conclusion,  briefly  stated,  is  this:  God's  sovereign 
will  has  elected  that  men  shall  be  saved  by  belief  in 
his    Son.      The    Gentiles    (apparently    least    apt    and 


THE    CONCLUSION   REACHED  413 

prepared)  have,  as  a  class,  yielded  to  God's  will,  and 
are  being  saVed.  The  Jews  (apparently  most  apt 
and  prepared)  have,  as  a  class,  resisted  God's  will, 
and  are  being  lost.]  That  the  Gentiles,  who  followed 
not  after  righteousness,  attained  to  righteousness, 
even  the  righteousness  which  is  of  faith  [The  right- 
eousness which  the  apostle  has  in  mind  is  that  which 
leads  to  justification  before  God.  Righteousness  is 
the  means,  justification  the  end,  so  that  the  word  as 
here  used  includes  the  idea  of  justification.  Now,  the 
Gentiles  were  not  without  desire  for  moral  righteous- 
ness. The  Greeks  entertained  lofty  ideals  of  it,  and 
the  Romans,  following  the  legalistic  bent  of  their 
nature,  plodded  after  it  in  their  systems  of  law  and 
government;  but  as  Gentiles  they  had  no  knowledge 
of  a  God  calling  them  to  strict  account  in  a  final 
judgment,  and  demanding  full  justification.  Hence 
they  were  not  seeking  it.  But  when  the  revelation 
of  God  and  his  demand  for  justification,  and  his 
graciously  provided  means  for  obtaining  it,  all  burst 
upon  their  spiritual  vision,  they  at  once  accepted 
the  revelation  in  its  entirety;  being  conscious  that 
they  had  no  righteousness  of  their  own ;  being,  in- 
deed, filled  with  its  opposite  (Rom.  1:18;  Eph.  2:2, 
3).  "Faith,"  the  leading  and  initiatory  part  of  the 
conditions  of  justification,  is,  by  a  form  of  synec- 
doche, employed  to  designate  the  whole  of  the  con- 
ditions, so  Bloomfield  justly  observes:  "Faith  in 
Christ  implies  a  full  acceptance  of  his  gospel,  and 
an  obedience  to  all  its  requisitions,  whether  of  belief 
or  practice"] :  31  but  Israel,  following  after  a  law  of 
righteousness,  did  not  arrive  at  that  law.  [Israel 
was  not  seeking  justification.  Their  search  was 
rather  for  a  lazu  that  would  produce  in  them  a  right- 
eousness meriting  justification.  This  craving  arose 
from  a  proud,  self-sufficient  spirit,  and  God  answered 
it  by  giving  the  law  of  Moses,  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  revealing  their  universal  sinful  weakness 
and  insufficiency  "(Acts  15:10;  Gal.  2:16),  and  need 
of  a  Saviour   (Rom.  7 :  24,  25)  \  wherefore  Paul  de- 


414  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

scribes  the  law  as  "our  tutor  to  bring  us  unto 
Christ,  that  we  might  be  justified  by  faith"  (Gal.  3: 
24).  Realizing  the  impossible  task  of  attaining  justi- 
fying righteousness  by  the  law  of  Moses,  the  Jew 
began  adulterating  that  law  by  traditions;  but  even 
the  law  thus  modified  gave  small  delusive  hope,  and 
the  cry  was  still,  ''What  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal 
Hfe?"  (Luke  10:25;  18:18).  But  to  this  solemn  and 
awful  question  there  were  but  two  answers:  (1) 
Keep  the  law  of  Moses  (Matt.  19:  17;  Rom.  10:  5;  Gal. 
3:12),  and  when  the  Jew  answered,  "I  can  not," 
then  (2)  the  "Follow  me"  of  Christ  (Matt.  19:21). 
Since  no  man  could  keep  the  law  of  Moses,  all  men 
were  and  are  shut  in  by  God  to  the  one  lazv  of 
salvation  through  faith  in  Christ.  No  wonder,  then, 
that  the  Jew,  seeking  relief  by  Moses,  or  by  a  third 
law,  failed  to  find  any  law  that  satisfied  his  soul  or 
operated  with  God.  Godet  calls  this  success  of  the 
uninterested  Gentile,  and  failure  of  the  Jew  who 
made  the  search  of  righteousness  his  daily  business, 
"the  most  poignant  irony  in  the  whole  of  history" ; 
yet  the  cases  of  the  two  parties  are  not  wholly  anti- 
thetical, as  Paul  clearly  shows,  by  the  use  of  the 
word  "righteousness"  instead  of  "justification."  If 
both  parties  had  sought  justification,  the  Jew  would 
have  no  doubt  been  the  first  to  find  it.  But  the 
object  of  the  Jewish  search  was  a  law  which  would 
give  life,  yet  preserve  his  pride  and  self-conceit,  and 
his  search  was  therefore  for  an  impossibility.  The 
Master  himself  discloses  the  difference  in  heart  be- 
tween the  Jew  and  the  Gentile  in  the  parable  of  the 
Pharisee  and  the  publican  (Luke  18:9-14).  The 
humble  spirit  of  the  Gentile  accepted  righteousness 
as  the  gift  of  the  humble  Christ,  but  the  proud  Jew 
could  not  so  demean  himself  as  to  place  himself 
under  obligations  so  lofty  to  One  so  lowly.  Let  us 
note  that  the  words  "follow  after"  and  "attain"  are 
agonistic,  that  is  to  say,  they  are  technical  words 
describing  the  running  after  the  prize,  and  the  grasp- 
ing  of   it,   as   used    in    the    Olympic    games.     Their 


THE   CONCLUSION  REACHED  415 

presence  here  at  the  end  of  the  argument  shows  that 
the  "willeth"  and  "runneth"  of  verse  16  also  have 
the  agonistic  force  which  we  gave  to  them  in  inter- 
preting that  verse.  Paul's  conclusion  explains  the 
willing  and  running.  It  is  folly  to  will  and  run 
contrary  to  the  law  and  will  of  Him  who,  as  supreme 
Sovereign,  has  laid  down  the  immutable  rules  of 
the  great  race  or  game  of  life.  The  prize  is  the 
free  gift  of  the  King:  there  is  no  merit  in  running 
that  can  win  it,  when  the  running  is  random  and 
contrary  to  rule,  as  the  Jews  suppose.  There  is  no 
merit  in  running  that  can  give  a  legal  right  to  it, 
even  when  the  running  is  according  to  rule,  but 
there  is  in  him  who  runs  a  moral  fitness  and  aptness 
for  the  prize  which  makes  it  his,  according  to  the 
will  of  him  who  called  him  to  so  run  for  it.]  32 
Wherefore?  [Why,  then,  did  the  Jews  fail  to  find 
any  law  of  life?  Answer:  Because  there  is  but  one 
such  law,  and  they  sought  another.']  Because  they 
sought  it  not  by  faith,  but  as  it  were  by  works.  [In 
interpreting,  we  have  contrasted  the  law  of  works 
with  what  we  have  called  "the  law  of  faith,"  but  the 
apostle  does  not  use  this  latter  term :  with  him  life 
it  attained  by  "faith,"  though  he  treats  it  as  a  working 
principle  in  that  he  contrasts  it  with  the  other  active 
principle,  or  law  of  works.  In  this  verse,  however, 
he  drops  the  abstract  altogether,  and  places  the  con- 
crete "faith"  and  "works"  in  vivid  opposition.  It  is 
not  so  much  a  question  of  law  against  law,  and  prin- 
ciple against  principle ;  it  is  one  of  faith  which  appro- 
priates the  perfect  righteousness  of  Christ,  and  of  Jew- 
ish works  which,  scorning  the  garment  of  the  purity  of 
God,  revealed  in  his  Son,  still  clings  to  the  filthy  rags  of 
self-righteousness,  self-sufficiency,  Phariseeism,  etc. — 
Phil.  3 :  4-14.]  They  stumbled  at  the  stone  of  stumbling 
[The  language  here  still  follows  the  metaphor  of  the 
race-course.  The  Jew,  running  with  his  eye  on  an  im- 
aginary, non-existing,  phantom  goal,  and  blind  as  to 
the  real  goal,  stumbles  over  it  and  falls.  The  picture 
presented  by  the  apostle  suggests  the  sad  truth  that 


416  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

the  Jew  has  run  far  enough  and  fast  enough  to  win, 
but,  as  he  has  rejected  the  terms  and  rules  of  the 
race,  his  efforts  are  not  counted  by  the  Lord  of  the 
race.  Christ  was  placed  of  God  as  a  goal,  and  not 
as  a  stumbling-block ;  as  a  Saviour,  not  as  a  source 
of  condemnation ;  but  he  is  indeed  either  man's  sal- 
vation or  his  ruin — Matt.  21 :  42-45] ;  33  even  as  it  is 
written  [The  passage  about  to  be  quoted  is  a  com- 
pound of  the  Hebrew  at  Isa.  8:  14  and  the  LXX.  at 
Isa.  28 :  16.  The  first  reads  thus,  "But  he  shall  be 
.  .  .  for  a  stone  of  stumbling  and  for  a  rock  of  offence 
to  both  the  houses-  of  Israel,"  and  the  second,  "Be- 
hold, I  lay  in  Zion  for  a  foundation  ...  he  that 
believeth  shall  not  be  in  haste."  The  reader  can  see 
how  the  apostle,  for  brevity,  has  blended  them; 
quoting  only  such  part  of  each  as  suited  his  pur- 
pose], Behold,  I  lay  in  Zion  [Jerusalem,  the  capital 
city  of  my  people]  a  stone  of  stumbling  and  a  rock 
of  offence:  And  he  that  believeth  on  him  shall  not 
be  put  to  shame.  [Why  the  LXX.  substituted  "not 
be  put  to  shame,"  for  "not  be  in  haste,"  is  not  clear, 
though  the  meaning  of  the  latter  phrase  is  near  kin 
to  the  former,  conveying  the  idea  of  fleeing  away  in 
confusion.  Shame,  however,  is  a  very  appropriate 
word  here,  for  it  was  the  chief  cause  of  Christ's 
rejection  by  the  Jews:  thev  were  ashamed  of  him 
(Mark  8:38;  Luke  9:26;  Rom.  1:16;  2  Tim.  1:8). 
The  apostle  is  justified  by  New  Testament  authority 
in  regarding  both  these  Scriptures  as  Messianic 
prophecies  (1  Pet.  2:6-8;  Matt.  21:42;  Acts  4:11. 
Comp.  Ps.  118:22;  1  Cor.  3:11;  Eph.  2:20);  but  it 
adds  greatly  to  the  weight  of  his  argument  to  know 
that  the  Jews  also  conceded  them  to  be  such. 
"Neither  of  these  passages,"  says  Olshausen,  "re- 
lates to  the  Messiah  in  its  immediate  connection,  but 
they  had  been  typically  applied  to  him  as  early  as 
the  Chaldean  and  Rabbinical  paraphrases,  and  Paul 
with  propriety  so  applies  them.  The  Old  Testament 
is  one  great  prophecy  of  Christ."  And  Tholuck 
says:   "Jarchi   and   Kimchi   also  testify  that  it   (Isa. 


THE    CONCLUSION   REACHED  417 

28:16)  was  explained  of  the  Messias."  And  our 
Lord  was  a  stone  of  stumbling!  As  Moule  exclaims: 
"Was  ever  prophecy  more  profoundly  verified  in 
event?"  If  he  spake  plainly,  they  were  ofifended ;  and 
if  he  spake  in  parables,  they  were  equally  angered. 
If  he  healed,  they  took  offense ;  and  if  he  forbore 
healing,  and  refused  to  give  a  sign,  they  were  like- 
wise dissatisfied.  If  he  came  to  the  feast,  they  sought 
his  life ;  and  if  he  stayed  away,  they  were  busy 
searching  for  him.  Nothing  that  he  did  pleased 
them,  nothing  that  he  forbore  to  do  won  him  any 
favor.  His  whole  ministry  developed  an  ever-in- 
creasing distaste  for  his  person,  and  animosity 
toward  his  claims.  As  a  final  word  on  this  great 
chapter,  let  us  note  that  God's  foreordination  rejected 
the  Jew  by  presenting  a  gospel  which  appealed  to 
sinners,  and  was  offensive  to  that  worst  class  of 
sinners,  the  self-righteous.  God  sent  his  Son  as 
Physician  to  the  sick,  and  those  who  supposed  them- 
selves well,  died  of  their  maladies  according  to  a 
reasonable,  rational  and  equitable  plan — but  also  a 
foreordained  plan.  This  conclusion  of  the  ninth 
chapter  will  be  fully  discussed  in  the  tenth. 


418  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 


Subdivision  B. 

FIVE  EXPLANATIONS  OF  THE  GRAND  CON- 
CLUSION,   AND    ASCRIPTIONS    OF 
PRAISE. 

10:1—11:36. 
I. 

FIRST   EXPLANATION— JEWS   RESPONSIBLE 

FOR   THEIR   REJECTION,    SINCE   THEY 

HAD    AN    EOUAL    CHANCE    WITH 

THE    GENTILES    OF    BEING 

ACCEPTED. 

10:1-13. 

Brethren  [Seven  times  in  this  Epistle  Paul  thus 
addresses  the  brethren  at  Rome  generally  (Rom. 
1:13;  8:12;  11:25;  12:1;  15:14,  30;  16:17).  Twice 
he  thus  addresses  the  Christian  Jezvs  (Rom.  7:1,  4), 
and  this  "brethren"  is  evidently  a  third  time  they 
are  especially  spoken  to.  So  thought  Chrysostom, 
Bengel,  Pool,  Alford,  Barnes,  Hodge,  etc.  "Dropping 
now,"  says  Bengel,  "the  severity  of  the  preceding 
discussion,  he  kindly  styles  them  brethren"],  my 
heart's  desire  [literally,  "my  heart's  eudokia,  or  good 
pleasure,  or  good  unir  (Luke  2:14;  Eph.  1:5-9; 
Phil.  1:15;  2:13).  At  Matt.  11:26,  and  Luke  10:21, 
it  is  translated  "well  pleasing";  at  2  Thess.  1:11,  the 
literal  "fulfil  every  good  pleasure  of  goodness"  is 
translated,  "fulfil  every  desire  of  goodness."  Eudokia 
does  not  mean  desire,  but  we  have  no  English  word 
which  better  translates  Paul's  use  of  it.  Stuart  con- 
veys the  idea  fairly  in  a  paraphrase  "the  benevolent 
and  kind  desire"]  and  my  supplication  to  God  is  for 
them  [the  Israelites],  that  they  may  be  saved.     [Those 


JEIVS   RESPONSIBLE    FOR    REJECTION  419 

who  tell  our  faults  and  foretell  their  punishment 
usually  appear  to  us  to  be  our  enemies.  Paul  de- 
scribed the  sin  and  rejection  of  Israel  so  clearly 
that  many  of  them  would  be  apt  to  think  that  he 
prayed  for  their  punishment.  This  did  him  gross 
wrong.  Every  time  the  Evangelist  denounces  sin 
from  love  toward  the  sinner.  (Comp.  Gal.  4:16.) 
As  to  the  apostle's  prayer,  it  showed  that  his  con- 
ception of  foreordination  was  not  Calvinistic.  It 
would  be  of  no  avail  to  pray  against  God's  irrevo- 
cable decree ;  but  it  was  very  well  worth  while  to 
pray  against  Jewish  stubbornness  in  unbelief,  trust- 
ing to  the  measureless  resources  of  God  to  find  a 
remedy.  So  the  remark  of  Bengel  is  pertinent,  'Taul 
would  not  have  prayed,  had  they  been  utterly  repro- 
bates." Paul's  prayer  being  in  the  Spirit  (Rom.  9:  1) 
was  a  pledge  that  no  fixed  decree  prevented  God  from 
forgiving,  if  Israel  would  only  repent  and  seek  for- 
giveness.] 2  For  I  bear  them  witness  that  they  have 
a  zeal  for  God,  but  not  according  to  knowledge. 
["For"  introduces  Paul's  reason  for  having  hope  in 
his  prayer.  Had  Israel  been  sodden  in  sin,  or  stupe- 
fied in  indifference,  he  would  have  had  less  heart  to 
pray.  But  they  were  ardently  religious,  though 
ignorantly  so,  for,  had  they  possessed  a  true  knowl- 
edge of  their  law,  it  would  have  led  them  to  Christ, 
and  had  they  understood  their  prophets,  they  would 
have  recognized  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ  (Gal.  3: 
24;  Luke  24:25-27;  Rev.  19:10).  But  the  chief 
ignorance  of  which  Paul  complained  was  their  failure 
to  see  that  there  is  no  other  way  to  justification  and 
salvation  save  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  As  to  their 
zeal,  which  in  the  centuries  wore  out  the  vital  energy 
of  the  Greek,  and  amazed  the  stolidity  of  the  Roman, 
till  in  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  it  dashed  itself  to  atoms 
against  the  impregnable  iron  of  the  legionaries,  no 
tongue  nor  pen  can  describe  it.  Of  this  zeal,  Paul 
was  a  fitting  witness,  for  before  conversion  he  shared 
it  as  a  persecutor,  and  after  conversion  he  endured 
it  as  a  martyr   (Phil.  3:6;  2  Cor.   11:24;  Acts  21: 


420  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

20-31;  22:4).  But  misguided  zeal  miscarries  like  a 
misdirected  letter,  and  the  value  of  the  contents  does 
not  mend  the  address.  *'It  is  better,"  says  Augustine, 
"to  go  limping  in  the  right  way,  than  to  run  with  all 
our  might  out  of  the  way."  Their  lack  of  knowledge, 
being  due  to  their  own  stubborn  refusal  to  either 
hear  or  see,  was  inexcusable.]  3  For  being  ignorant 
of  God's  righteousness  [Here  Paul  shows  wherein 
they  lacked  knowledge.  'Tor  they,"  says  Scott,  "not 
knowing  the  .perfect  justice  of  the  divine  character, 
law  and  government;  and  the  nature  of  that  right- 
eousness which  God  has  provided  for  the  justification 
of  sinners  consistently  with  his  own  glory" — Rom. 
3:26],  and  seeking  to  establish  their  own  [Refusing 
to  "put  on  Christ"  (Gal.  3:27),  they  clothed  them- 
selves with  a  garment  of  their  own  spinning,  which 
they,  like  all  other  worms,  spun  from  their  own 
filthy  inwards.  Or,  to  suit  the  figure  more  nearly 
to  the  language  of  the  apostle,  refusing  to  accept 
Christ  as  the  Rock  for  life-building,  they  reared  their 
cnmibling  structure  on  their  own  sandy,  unstable 
nature,  and  as  fast  as  the  wind,  rain  and  flood  of 
temptation  undermined  their  work,  they  set  about 
rebuilding  and  re-establishing  it,  oblivious  of  the  re- 
sults of  that  supreme,  unavertable,  ever-impending 
storm,  the  last  judgment— Matt.  7:24-27],  they  did 
not  subject  themselves  to  the  righteousness  of  God. 
["Subject"  is  the  keyword  here.  The  best  comment 
on  this  passage  is  found  at  John  8:31-36.  Those 
who  admit  themselves  bondservants  of  sin  find  it  no 
hardship  to  enter  the  free  service  of  Christ,  but  those 
whose  pride  and  self-sufficiency  and  self-righteous- 
ness make  them  self-worshipers,  can  bring  them- 
selves to  submit  to  no  one.  By  use  of  the  phrase 
"righteousness  of  God,"  Paul  indicts  them  of  rebellion 
against  the  Father  and  his  plan  of  salvation,  rather 
than  of  rebellion  against  the  person  of  the  Christ, 
who  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  Father's  plan — ■ 
the  concrete  righteousness  whereby  we  are  saved.] 
4    For    [With    this    word    the    apostle    gives    further 


JEJVS  RESPONSIBLE  FOR  REJECTION  421 

evidence  of  the  ignorance  of  the  Jews.  He  has 
shown  that  they  did  not  know  that  they  could  not 
merit  eternal  life  by  good  works;  he  now  proceeds 
to  show  that  they  did  not  know  that  the  law  itself, 
which  was  the  sole  basis  on  which  they  rested  their 
hopes  of  justification  by  the  merit  of  works,  was 
now  a  nonentity,  a  thing  of  the  past;  having  been 
fulfilled,  abolished  and  brought  to  an  absolute  and 
unqualified  end  by  Christ.  The  Jews,  therefore,  are 
proven  ignorant,  for]  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law 
unto  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth.  [The 
apostle  places  the  enlightenment  of  believers  in  con- 
trast with  the  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  Jews.  All 
believers  understand  (not  only  that  Christ  is  the  end 
or  aim  or  purpose  for  w^hich  the  law  was  given,  and 
that  he  also  ended  or  fulfilled  it,  but)  that  Christ,  by 
providing  the  gospel,  put  an  end  to  the  law — killed 
it.  The  apostle  does  not  mean  that  the  law  only  dies 
to  a  man  when  he  believes  in  Christ,  else  it  would 
still  live,  as  to  unbelieving  Jews :  "to  every  one  that 
believeth,"  therefore,  expresses  a  contrast  in  en- 
lightenment, and  not  in  state  or  condition.  The  new 
covenant  or  testament,  which  is  the  gospel,  made 
the  first  testament  old  (Heb.  8:  13).  That  is  to  say, 
the  new  or  last  will  revokes  and  makes  null  and  void 
all  former  wills,  and  no  one  can  make  good  his  claim 
to  an  inheritance  by  pleading  ignorance  of  the  New 
Will,  for  the  Old  Will  is  abrogated  whether  he  chooses 
to  know  it  or  not.  As  the  word  ''end"  has  many 
meanings,  such  as  aim,  object,  purpose,  fulfillment, 
etc.,  expositors  construe  Paul's  words  many  ways, 
but  the  literal  meaning,  an  end — i.  e.,  a  termination — 
best  suits  the  context.  "Of  two  contrary  things," 
says  Godet,  "when  one  appears,  the  other  must  take 
and  end."  "Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law,  as  'death,' 
saith  Demosthenes,  'is  the  end  of  life'"  (Gifford). 
The  Lord  does  not  operate  two  antagonistic  dispen- 
sations and  covenants  at  one  time.  To  make  evident 
the  fact  that  the  gospel  terminates  the  law,  the  apos- 
tle now  shows  the  inherent  antagonism  between  the 

28 


422  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

two;  one  of  them  promising  life  to  those  obedient 
to  law,  the  other  promising  salvation  to  the  one 
being  obedient  to  or  openly  confessing  his  faith. 
And  so  there  is  an  antagonism  between  the  gospel 
and  the  law.]  5  For  Moses  [the  lawgiver]  writeth 
that  the  man  that  death  the  righteousness  which  is 
of  the  law  shall  live  thereby.  [Lev.  18:5.  (Comp. 
Neh.  9:29;  Ezek.  20:11,  13,  21;  Luke  16:27-29; 
Gal.  3 :  12.)  The  context  indicates  that  the  life  prom- 
ised is  merely  the  possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan 
(Lev.  18:26-29);  but  Tholuck  observes  that  "among 
the  later  Jews,  we  find  the  notion  widely  diffused  that 
the  blessings  promised  likewise  involve  those  of 
eternal  life.  Orkelos  translates :  'Whosoever  keeps 
these  commandments,  shall  thereby  live  in  the  life 
eternal.'  And  in  the  Targums  of  the  Pseudo-Jon- 
athan, Moses'  words  are  rendered:  'Whosoever  fulfils 
the  commandments  shall  thereby  live  in  the  life 
eternal,  and  his  portion  shall  be  with  the  righteous.'  " 
Paul  evidently  construes  it  as  being  a  promise  of 
eternal  life.  (Comp.  Luke  18:18-20.)  But  no  man 
could  keep  the  law.  Was,  then,  the  promise  of  God 
ironical?  By  no  means.  The  law  taught  humble 
men  the  need  of  grace  and  a  gospel,  and  for  all  such 
God  had  foreordained  a  gospel  and  an  atoning 
Christ.  But  to  the  proud,  the  self-righteous,  the 
Pharisaical  who  would  merit  heaven  rejecting  grace 
and  the  gospel,  the  promise  was  ironical,  for  *'doeth 
.  .  .  live,"  implies  that  whoso  fails,  dies  (Deut.  27: 
26;  Gal.  3:10;  Jas.  2:10).  There  was,  then,  right- 
eousness by  the  law,  and  such  as  had  it  were  ripe 
for  the  gospel  which  it  foreshadowed,  especially  in 
its  continual  sacrificial  deaths  for  sin;  but  there  was 
no  ^^//-righteousness  by  the  law,  and  those  who 
strove  for  it  invariably  rejected  Christ.  Those  seek- 
ing life  by  law  supplemented  by  grace  found  in  Jesus 
that  fullness  of  grace  which  redeemed  from  law,  but 
those  seeking  life  by  law  without  grace,  failed  and 
were  hardened — Rom.  11:5-7.]  6  But  [marking  the 
irreconcilable   contrast   and   antagonism   between   the 


JEWS  RESPONSIBLE  EOR  REJECTION  423 

new  gospel  and  the  old  law]  the  righteousness  which 
is  of  faith  saith  thus  [we  would  here  expect  Christ 
to  speak,  as  the  antithesis  of  Moses  in  verse  5.  But 
if  Jesus  had  been  made  spokesman,  Paul  would  have 
been  limited  to  a  quotation  of  the  exact  words  of  the 
Master.  It,  therefore,  suited  his  purpose  better  to 
personify  Righteousness-which-is-of-faith,  or  the  gos- 
pel, and  let  it  speak  for  itself.  Compare  his  personi- 
fications of  Faith  and  Law  at  Gal.  3 :  23-25.  By 
doing  this,  he  (Paul)  could,  in  this  his  final  summary 
of  the  gospel's  sufficiency  and  applicability  to  the 
needs  of  men,  employ  words  similar  to  those  in 
which  Moses  in  his  final  summary  of  the  law,  spake 
of  its  sufficiency  and  applicability  (Deut.  30:11-14). 
Thus  on  a  similar  occasion,  and  with  a  similar  theme, 
Paul  speaks  words  similar  to  those  of  Moses ;  so 
varying  them,  however,  as  to  bring  into  vivid  con- 
trast the  differences  between  the  law  and  the  gospel 
• — between  that  which  typified  and  foreshadowed,  and 
that  which  in  its  superlative  superiority  fulfilled,  ter- 
minated and  forever  abolished.  Moses  said  of  the 
law:  "For  this  commandment  which  I  command  thee 
this  day,  it  is  not  too  hard  for  thee,  neither  is  it  far 
off.  It  is  not  in  heaven,  that  thou  shouldest  say, 
Who  shall  go  up  for  us  to  heaven,  and  bring  it  unto 
us,  and  make  us  to  hear  it,  that  we  may  do  it? 
Neither  is  it  beyond  the  sea,  that  thou  shouldest 
say.  Who  shall  go  over  the  sea  for  us,  and  bring  it 
unto  us,  and  make  us  to  hear  it,  that  we  may 
do  it?  But  the  word  is  very  nigh  unto  thee,  in  thy 
mouth,  and  in  thy  heart,  that  thou  mayest  do  it." 
His  meaning  is,  first,  that  the  law  is  not  so  hard  but 
that  a  man  who  makes  right  use  of  it  may  please 
God  in  it  (this  was  true  of  the  law  till  the  gospel 
abolished  it)  ;  second,  the  law  was  the  fully  prepared 
gift  of  God,  and,  being  possessed  by  the  Jews,  they 
neither  had  to  scale  the  heavens  to  get  false  gods  to 
give  a  law  to  them,  nor  did  they  have  to  cross  the 
sea  (a  dangerous  and  rarely  attempted  task  among 
those   of  Moses'   day)    to   get  unknown,   remote   and 


424  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

inaccessible  nations  of  men  to  bring  a  law  to  them. 
They  were  required  to  perform  no  impractical,  semi- 
miraculous  feat  to  secure  the  law — it  was  theirs 
already  by  gift  of  God,  and  that  so  fully  and  utterly 
that,  instead  of  being  locked  in  the  holy  seclusion 
of  the  sanctuary,  it  was  their  common  property, 
found  in  their  mouths  (daily  talk)  and  hearts  (wor- 
shipful, reverential  meditation — Ex.  13:9;  Josh.  1:8; 
Ps.  37:30,  31;  1:2;  119:14-16).  Such  was  the  law 
as  described  by  Moses.  In  contrast  with  it  Paul  lets 
the  gospel  describe  itself  thus],  Say  not  in  thy  heart, 
Who  shall  'ascend  into  heaven?  (that  is,  to  bring 
Christ  down:)  7  or,  Who  shall  descend  into  the 
abyss?  [Hades,  the  abode  of  the  dead — Luke  8:31; 
Rev.  17:8;  20:1;  Ps.  139:8]  (that  is,  to  bring 
Christ  up  from  the  dead.)  8  But  what  saith  it? 
[Here  Paul  interrupts  the  gospel  with  a  question. 
If  the  word  of  life  is  not  in  these  places  (heaven 
and  Hades),  where,  then,  is  it?  Where  does  the 
gospel  say  it  is?  He  now  resumes  the  gospel's  per- 
sonification, and  lets  it  answer  the  question.]  The 
word  is  nigh  thee,  in  thy  mouth,  and  in  thy  heart 
[Here  end  the  words  spoken  by  the  gospel.  Their 
import  is  similar  to  that  of  the  second  meaning  of 
Moses'  words  found  above.  The  gospel  is  the  fully 
prepared  gift  of  God  (John  3:16),  and,  being  once 
accepted  and  possessed  by  the  believer,  he  is  not 
called  upon  to  scale  the  heavens  to  procure  a  Christ 
and  bring  him  down  to  see  the  needs  of  man  and 
devise  a  gospel  (for  the  Word  has  already  become 
incarnate,  and  has  dwelt  among  us — John  1 :  \A — and 
seeing  what  sacrifice  was  needed  for  man's  forgive- 
ness and  cleansing,  he  has  provided  it — Heb.  10 :  3- 
9)  ;  neither  is  it  demanded  of  him  that  he  descend 
into  the  abyss  (Hades,  the  abode  of  the  dead)  to  find 
there  a  Christ  who  has  died  for  our  sins,  and  to 
raise  thence  a  Christ  whose  resurrection  shall  be  for 
our  justification  (for  God  has  already  provided  the 
Christ  who  died  for  our  sins — 1  Cor.  15:3;  Isa.  53: 
5,  6;  Rom.  3:  25;  5 : 6;  8:  32;  2  Cor.  5:21;  Gal.  1:4; 


JEWS  RESPONSIBLE  FOR  REJECTION  425 

1  Pet.  2:24;  3:18 — thus  making  an  end  of  sins,  and 
making  reconciliation  for  iniquity — Dan.  9  :  24 — and 
who  also  was  raised  for  our  justification — Rom.  4:24, 
25;  1  Cor.  15:  17;  1  Pet.  1:21 — thus  bringing  in  ever- 
lasting righteousness — Dan.  9:24).  Thus  far  the 
apostle's  argument  runs  thus :  As  the  sources  whence 
a  law  might  be  found  were  questions  about  which 
the  Jew  needed  not  to  trouble  himself,  since  God 
provided  it;  so  the  sources  whence  a  Christ-gospel 
might  be  procured  were  also  questions  about  which 
the  Christian  need  feel  no  care,  for  the  all-sufficient 
wisdom  and  might  of  God  which  provided  the  law 
had  likewise  perfected  and  supplied  the  gospel,  so 
that  men  need  only  to  accept  it  by  faith.  In  either 
case  His  was  the  provision  and  theirs  the  acceptance ; 
and  what  the  apostle  makes  particularly  emphatic 
was  that  the  gospel  zi'as  as  easily  accepted  as  the  lazv, 
for  it,  too,  could  be  familiarly  discussed  with  the 
lips  and  meditated  upon  with  the  heart,  being  as 
nigh  as  the  law.  Nearness  represents  influence, 
power  over  us ;  remoteness,  the  lack  of  it  (Rom.  7 : 
18,  21).  As  the  words  of  Moses  were  spoken  about 
the  type  of  the  gospel  (the  law),  they  were  of  course 
prophetically  applicable  to  the  Christ  who  is  the  sum 
of  the  gospel,  and  likewise  the  living  embodiment  of 
the  law.  But  to  make  plain  their  prophetic  import, 
Paul  gave  them  a  personal  application  to  Christ,  and 
changed  the  search  among  the  distant  living  (where 
law  might  be  found)  to  search  among  the  farther  dis- 
tant dead  (where  Christ  must  be  found  to  have  been  in 
order  to  give  life).  Thus  Paul's  variations  from 
Moses  constitute  what  Luther  calls  "a  holy  and 
lovely  play  of  God's  Spirit  in  the  Lord's  word"]  :  that 
is,  the  word  of  faith,  which  we  preach  [At  this  point 
the  apostle  begins  again  to  speak  for  himself  and 
his  fellow-ministers,  and  shows  that  the  "word"  of 
which  Moses  spoke  is  the  gospel  or  "word  of  faith" 
preached  by  Christians.  He  also  shows  that  the 
words  "mouth"  and  "heart,"  as  used  by  Moses,  have 
prophetic  reference  to  the  gospel  terms  of  salvation] : 


426  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

9    because    [the    gospel    (and    Moses)    speak    of   the 
mouth  and  heart,  because]  if  thou  shalt  confess  with 
thy  mouth  Jesus  as  Lord,   and  shalt   believe   in   thy 
heart  that  God  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt 
be  saved  [Moses  emphasized  the  nearness  of  the  law. 
The  Jew  was  to  keep   it  near    (accept  it),  for,  as  a 
far-off,  neglected  thing,  it  would  be  of  no  avail.     As 
an    accepted    rule,    loved    and    talked    over    daily,    it 
would    be    effective    unto    righteousness.      Jeremiah, 
foretelling    the    days    when    a    new    law    would    be 
more  effective  than  the  old,  declared  that  the  prom- 
ise  of   Jehovah   was:    "I    will   put   my    law   in    their 
inward   parts,   and   in   their   hearts   will   I    write   it." 
Thus    it   would    become    nearer    than    when    written 
externally   upon   stone.     When   this   new   law   came, 
Jesus  indicated  the  fulfillment  of  Jeremiah's  word  by 
saying,   "The   kingdom  of   God   is  within   you"    (Jer. 
31:33;  Luke   17:20).     Therefore,  when   Paul   quotes 
Moses'  words  about  that  nearness  of  the  law  which 
makes  it  effective,  he  takes  occasion  to  describe  how 
the  gospel  or  "word  of  faith"  is  made  effective  unto 
righteousness   by   the   believer's    full    consent   to   the 
will  of  God  that  it  be  near  him,  making  it  an  inward 
nearness   by   confession   with   the    mouth    and   belief 
in  the  heart.     In  short,  the  gospel  is  not  righteous- 
ness unto  life  until  it  is  accepted,  and  the  prescribed 
method  by  which  it  is  to  be  accepted  is  faith  leading 
to  confession,  followed  by  obedience  of  faith,  begin- 
ning   with    baptism,    which    symbolically    unites    us 
with  our   Lord   in   his   death   and   resurrection.     But 
Paul    makes    no    reference    to    the    ordinance,    laying 
stress  on  the  central  truth  of  Christianity  which  the 
ordinance    shows    forth ;    namely,    God    raised    Jesus 
from    the    dead.      The    zealous    lover    of    first    prin- 
ciples might  expect  Paul  to  make  the   Christhood  of 
Jesus  the  object  of  belief   (Matt.   16:16).     But  that 
is  already  taken  care  of  by  the  apostle  in  the  brief 
summary:  "Confess  with  thy  mouth  Jesus  as  Lord." 
The    truth    is,    the    resurrection    is    the    demonstration 
of  that  proposition :  "Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 


JEirS  RESPONSIBLE  FOR  REJECTION  427 

the  living  God."  "Jesus"  means  "Saviour,"  and  the 
resurrection  proves  or  demonstrates  his  ability  to 
save  from  death  and  the  grave  (1  Cor.  15:12-19;  1 
Pet.  1:3-5;  2  Cor.  4:14).  Jesus  is  Christ;  that  is, 
God's  anointed  Prophet,  Priest  and  King  over  all 
men;  for  such  is  the  meaning  of  "Christ."  Now, 
the  resurrection  proves  that  Jesus  was  a  teacher 
of  truth,  for  God  honors  no  liars  with  a  resurrection 
like  that  of  Jesus;  it  proves  that  he  is  an  acceptable 
High  Priest,  for  had  not  his  offering  for  sin  can- 
celed the  guilt  of  sin,  he  had  appeared  no  more  in 
the  land  of  the  living  (Matt.  5:26),  but  he  was 
raised  to  complete  his  priestly  work  for  our  justi- 
fication (see  note  on  Rom.  4:25,  p.  336,  and  Acts  13: 
37-39)  ;  it  demonstrated  that  he  was  the  King,  for 
by  his  resurrection  he  led  captivity  captive  (Eph. 
4:8)  and  received  the  gift  of  universal  power  (Matt. 
28:18;  Acts  2:23-36;  13:34-37;  17:31;  Phil.  2:8-11; 
Eph.  1 :  19-23) ;  and,  finally,  it  declared  him  to  be 
the  Son  of  God  with  power  (Rom.  1:4;  Acts  13:32, 
33) :  10  for  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  right- 
eousness; and  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made 
unto  salvation.  ["The  seat  of  faith,"  says  Calvin, 
"is  not  in  the  brain,  but  in  the  heart.  Yet  I  would 
not  contend  about  the  part  of  the  body  in  which 
faith  is  located:  but  as  the  word  heart  is  often  taken 
for  a  serious  and  sincere  feeling,  I  would  say  that 
faith  is  a  firm  and  efifectual  confidence,  and  not  a 
bare  notion  only."  The  belief  must  be  such  as  to 
incite  to  love  (1  Cor.  13:1,  2)  and  the  obedience  of 
faith  (Jas.  2:14-26).  The  faith  of  the  heart  intro- 
duces the  sinner  into  that  state  of  righteousness 
which  in  this  present  world  reconciles  him  to  God. 
The  continual  profession  of  that  faith  by  word  and 
deed  works  out  his  salvation,  which  ushers  him  into 
the  glory  of  the  world  to  come.  Salvation  relates 
to  the  life  to  come  (Rom.  13:11).  When  attained 
it  delivers  us  from  the  dominion  of  the  devil,  which 
is  the  bondage  of  sin ;  from  the  power  of  death,  which 
is  the  wages  of  sin,  and  from  eternal  torment,  which 


428  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

is  the  punishment  of  sin.  Such  is  salvation  negatively 
defined,  but  only  the  redeemed  know  what  it  is 
positively,  for  flesh  can  neither  inherit  it  (1  Cor. 
15:50)  nor  utter  it— 2  Cor.  12:1-5.]  11  For  the 
scripture  saith  [Again  Paul  appeals  to  the  Scripture 
to  show  that  what  he  is  telling  the  Jews  has  all 
been  prophetically  announced  in  their  own  Scrip- 
tures. Thus  he  slays  their  law  with  its  own  sword], 
Whosoever  believeth  on  him  shall  not  be  put  to 
shame.  [A  passage  already  quoted  at  Rom.  9:33; 
but  Pau!  changes  "he"  into  "whosoever,"  thus  em- 
phasizing the  universality  of  the  verse,  for  God's 
universal  mercy  to  believers  is  his  theme,  and  we 
shall  find  him  amplifying  and  proving  it  in  the  next 
two  verses.  "Shame"  has  especial  reference  to  the 
judgment-day.  By  faith  Ave  learn  to  so  live  that 
God  ceases  to  be  ashamed  of  us  (Heb.  11:6-16).  By 
faith  also  we  are  brought  into  such  union  with  Christ 
that  he  also  no  longer  feels  ashamed  to  recognize 
us  (Heb.  2:  10,  11).  But  if  we  glory  in  sin  which  is 
our  shame  (Phil.  3:18,  19),  walking  nakedly  in  our 
shame  (Rev.  16:15),  and  refusing  the  gift  of  the 
garment  of  Christ's  righteousness  (Rev.  3:18),  being 
ashamed  of  it  and  him  ;  in  that  day  he  also  will  be 
ashamed  of  us  (Mark  8:38;  Luke  9:26),  and  great 
then  will  be  our  shame  in  the  sight  of  all  God's  hosts, 
and  marked  will  be  the  contrast  between  us  and  the 
believers  who  are  not  ashamed — 1  John  2:28.]  12 
For  [The  Scripture  uses  such  universal  language 
about  our  being  freed  from  shame  by  justification, 
because]  there  is  no  distinction  between  Jew  and 
Greek :  for  the  same  Lord  is  Lord  of  all,  and  is  rich 
unto  all  that  call  upon  him  [Paul  here  announces  the 
same  truth  which  Peter  discovered  when  he  said : 
"Of  a  truth  I  perceive  that  God  is  no  respecter  of 
persons"  (Acts  10:34).  As  the  Jews  were  for  several 
centuries  under  the  dominion  of  the  Greeks,  and  as 
the  cultured  of  the  Romans,  their  later  masters,  also 
spoke  Greek,  the  term  Greek  became  to  them  a 
synonym  for  Gentile,  for  they  had  more  dealing  with 


JEJJ^S  RESPONSIBLE  FOR  REJECTION  429 

Greeks  than  with  any  other  people.  Now,  as  there 
is  but  one  God,  the  Jews  and  Greeks  were  compelled 
to  receive  blessings  from  that  same  God,  and  as  the 
Jew  and  Greek  stood  in  equal  need  of  salvation,  God 
offered  the  same  salvation  to  each  upon  the  same 
free  terms  and  each  had  equal  ability  to  accept  the 
terms  (Eph.  2:11-22).  Thus  God  showed  the  riches 
of  his  favor  to  all,  and  so  rich  is  God  in  his  mercy 
and  providences  toward  salvation,  that  no  multitude 
can  exhaust  them  ;  therefore  the  Jew  had  no  reason 
to  envy  or  begrudge  the  Gentiles  their  call,  since  it 
in  no  way  impoverished  him.  But  this  breaking 
down  of  distinctions  was,  nevertheless,  very  offensive 
to  the  Jew]  :  13  for  [and  this  lack  of  distinction  on 
God's  part  is  further  proved  by  Scripture,  for  it 
saith],  Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  [t.  e., 
person— Prov.  18  :  10 ;  Ps.  18 :  2,  3]  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
saved.  [Joel  2 :  32.  This  passage  is  quoted  by  Simon 
Peter  at  Acts  2:21.  In  place  of  "Lord,"  Joel  has  the 
word  "Jehovah,"  which  latter  term  the  Jews  regard 
as  describing  God  the  Father.  The  application  of 
this  word  to  Christ  by  Paul  (and  it  is  so  applied  to 
Christ,  as  the  next  verse  shows)  is  proof  of  our 
Lord's  divinity.  "There  Is,"  says  Alford,  "hardly  a 
stronger  proof,  or  one  more  Irrefragable  by  those 
who  deny  the  Godhead  of  our  blessed  Lord,  of  the 
unhesitating  application  to  Him  by  the  apostle  of 
the  name  and  attributes  of  Jehovah."  (Comp.  1  Cor. 
1 : 2.)  It  Is  evident  that  the  mere  crying  out,  "Lord, 
Lord!"  is  of  no  avail  (Matt.  7:21-23).  One  must 
call  upon  Jesus  as  he  directs,  and  must  worshlpfully 
accept  him  as  the  Son  and  Revelation  of  God.  "The 
language,"  says  Johnson,  "wherever  used,  Implies 
coming  to  the  Lord  and  calling  upon  him  In  his  ap- 
pointed way.  (Comp.  Acts  22:16;  2:21;  Gen.  12: 
8.)"  Having  thus  demonstrated  the  gratuitous  and 
universal  nature  of  the  gospel,  the  apostle  prepares 
us  for  his  next  paragraph,  which  presents  the  thought 
of  extension.  That  which  God  has  made  free  and  for 
all    should    be    published    and    offered    to    all.      How 


430  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

unreasonable,   therefore,   the   hatred   which   the   Jews 
bore  toward  Paul  for  being  apostle  to  the  Gentiles! 


II. 

SECOND     EXPLANATION     OF     THE     GRAND 
CONCLUSION— THE    UNIVERSALITY     OF 
THE  GOSPEL  DEMANDS  ITS  WORLD- 
WIDE E  X  T  E  N  S  I  O  N— BUT  THIS 
UNIVERSALITY     IS     LIMITED 
BY  HUMAN  REJECTION. 

10:14-2L 

[Since  the  apostle's  thought  in  this  section  is 
obscurely  connected,  the  line  of  argument  has  been 
found  difficult  to  follow.  It  will  aid  us,  therefore,  at 
the  start  to  get  his  purpose  clearly  in  view.  He  has 
shown  that  the  gospel  is  universal.  But  in  giving 
a  universal  blessing  God  would  of  course  see  to  it 
that  it  was  universally  published  and  propagated. 
This,  God  had  earnestly  attempted  to  do,  but  his 
efforts  had  largely  been  frustrated  so  far  as  Israel 
was  concerned.  But  this  was  Israel's  fault,  and 
therefore  that  people  were  utterly  without  excuse  (1) 
for  not  becoming  part  of  the  universality  which  God 
contemplated  and  attempted;  (2)  for  not  fully  under- 
standing^ this  universality  and  rejoicing  in  it;  nay, 
for  so  misunderstanding  it,  despite  full  Scripture  warn- 
ing, as  to  be  made  jealous  by  it,  so  as  to  spurn  it 
and  reject  it.]  14  How  then  shall  they  call  on  him 
in  whom  they  have  not  believed?  [The  form  of  the 
Greek  question  demands  the  answer,  "They  can  not." 
Though  the  question  presents  a  psychological  im- 
possibility, Paul  is  not  thinking  of  psychology,  but 
of  his  two  quotations  from  Scripture;  viz.,  verse  11, 
which  (as  interpreted  by  verse  9)  conditions  salva- 
tion on  belief,  and  verse   13,  which  conditions  it  on 


UNIVERSALITY    OF    THE    GOSPEL       431 

invocation  or  calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord.  He 
has  twice  coupled  these  two  conditions  in  the  ''be- 
lief and  "confession"  of  verses  9  and  10 ;  and  now 
he  couples  them  a  third  time  in  the  question  before 
us,  which  is  a  strong  way  of  asserting  there  can  be 
no  acceptable  calling  without  believing.  Since,  then, 
salvation,  the  all  in  all  of  man's  hopes — salvation 
which  God  desired  should  be  universal — depends 
upon  acceptable  calling  or  invocation,  and  since 
acceptable  calling  in  its  turn  depends  upon  belief, 
whatever  steps  are  necessary  to  produce  universal 
invocation  and  belief  s'hould  by  all  means  be  taken 
on  the  part  of  God  and  his  evangelists,  and  should 
likewise  by  all  means  be  universally  accepted  by 
man.  What  these  steps  are  the  apostle  proceeds  to 
enumerate]  and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him  whom 
they  have  not  heard?  [Hearing  is  the  next  step. 
We  can  believe  nothing  till  we  have  first  heard  it. 
But  in  the  apostle's  thought  our  belief  is  not  directed 
toward  an  abstraction,  but  toward  Jesus,  a  person. 
We  are  to  hear  him,  and  believe  him,  and  believe  on 
him.  As  we  can  not  meet  him  face  to  face,  we  must 
believe  on  him  as  he  presents  himself  to  us  by  his 
commissioned  agents  (Luke  10:16;  John  13:20;  1 
Thess.  4:8;  Eph.  2:17;  4:19,  20;  1  John  4:5,  6), 
called  preachers  (1  Tim.  2:7;  Mark  16:15).  There- 
fore the  next  question  reads]  and  how  shall  they 
hear  without  a  preacher?  [and  the  Jews  hated  Paul 
for  being  one!]  15  and  how  shall  they  preach,  except 
they  be  sent?  [Sending  is  the  last  step  as  we 
reason  hackzvard,  but  the  first  as  we  look  forzvard 
toward  salvation ;  for,  as  GifiPord  observes,  "Paul 
argues  back  from  effect  to  cause,"  so  that,  turning 
his  series  around,  it  will  read,  Sending,  preaching, 
hearing,  believing,  turning  to  or  calling  upon  God, 
salvation  (Acts  8:4-39).  In  these  days  of  missions 
we  have  grown  so  familiar  with  the  gospel  that  the 
idea  of  sending  has  become  fairly  limited  to  the 
transportation  of  the  missionary;  when,  therefore,  we 
enlar2:e   Paul's  sending  till  it  includes  the   idea  of  a 


432  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

divine  commission  or  command  to  go,  we  feel  that 
we  have  achieved  his  conception.  But  the  thought 
of  the  apostle  is  wider  still.  With  him  the  sending 
finds  its  full  meaning  in  that  unction  of  God  which 
provides  the  messenger  with  a  divine  message,  a  mes- 
sage of  good  nezvs  which  only  the  lips  of  God  can 
speak,  a  message  which  he  could  gather  from  no 
other  source,  and  without  which  all  going  would  be 
vanity,  a  mere  running  without  tidings.  Compare 
Paul's  vindication  of  the  heavenly  origin  of  his  mes- 
sage (Gal.  1:11-24).  To  understand  the  relevancy 
of  the  quotation  with  which  the  apostle  closes  the 
sentence,  let  us  remember  that  while  this  is  an  argu- 
ment, it  is  also,  by  reason  of  the  matter  argued,  a 
hymn  of  praise,  a  love-song,  a  jubilation,  an  ecstasy 
of  joy.  How  could  it  be  otherwise?  Now,  at  Rom. 
8 :  28-30  the  apostle  presents  the  heaven-forged  links 
of  the  unbreakable  chain  of  God's  holy  and  gracious 
purpose  to  glorify  man.  Having  presented  that  chain, 
he  devotes  the  remainder  of  the  chapter  (31-39)  to 
an  elaboration  of  the  joyful  confidence  which  wells 
up  within  him  at  its  contemplation,  for  a  heart  of 
flesh  could  not  do  otherwise.  So  here  the  apostle 
has  presented  the  links  of  the  corresponding  chain — 
the  chain  of  means  whereby  the  purpose  is  effected  or 
consummated,  so  that  man  is  saved  or  glorified ;  and 
that  chain  ends,  as  Paul  inversely  counts  its  links,  in 
the  unspeakable  honor  of  being  a  messenger  of  God, 
sent  to  bear  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  a  dying  world. 
Could  the  apostle  pass  this  by  and  stick  to  his  argu- 
ment? (Comp.  Eph.  3:7-12;  Acts  26:17,  18;  Rom. 
15:15,  16;  Gal.  1:15,  16.)  Nay,  if  he  did  so,  would 
it  not  weaken  his  argument?  For,  while  the  passage 
at  Rom.  8:31-39,  and  the  quotation  here  about  "beau- 
tiful feet,"  may  not  fit  In  syllogistically,  they  have 
unspeakable  power  suggestively;  for  the  first  pictures 
that  peace  of  God  that  passes  all  understanding, 
which  the  Jew  was  rejecting;  and  this  second  depicts 
the  glorious  ministry  of  God's  mercy  to  the  lost  and 
life  to  the  dying,  which  the  Jew  was  missing  by  his 


UNIVERSALITY    OF    THE    GOSPEL       433 

proud  unbelief.*  Let  us  note  in  passing  how  Paul's 
argument  emphasizes  Christ  unto  the  unbelievers. 
"All  this,"  says  Plumer,  "relates  to  Christ,  Jehovah. 
The  prayer  is  to  him  or  through  him ;  the  faith  is  in 
him ;  the  report  respects  him ;  the  heralds  are  his 
messengers ;  the  sum  of  all  they  proclaim  relates  to 
his  person,  work,  offices  and  grace ;  he  is  himself  the 
chiefest  among  ten  thousand  and  altogether  lovely." 
With  this  introduction  we   are  ready  for  the   quota- 


*  To  avoid  incumbering  Paul's  argument  we  have  given  the  briefest 
possible  interpretation  of  "sending,"  'mt  as  sending  is  the  bottom  of  the 
heavenly  ladder  the  top  of  which  reaches  unto  salvation,  it  should  be  fully 
understood.  The  first  sending  was  by  the  Father,  and  of  this  sending  Jesus 
was  both  messenger  and  message.  The  next  sending  was  that  of  the 
twelve  and  the  seventy,  a  sending  which  culminated  in  the  great  commis- 
sion (Matt.  28  19;  Mark  16:  15,  16;  Luke  24:47;  Acts  1:8).  The  first  of 
these  sendings  was  perfect  as  to  sender,  message  and  messenger  (John  3: 
34).  The  second  was  perfect  as  to  sender  and  message,  but  weak  as  to  the 
messengers  The  third  sending  was  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  church  at 
Antioch  (Acts  13:2,  3).  In  this  sending  the  message  was  practically  per- 
fect, but  the  church  participated  in  the  sending,  so  that  the  sender  and 
the  messengers  were  imperfect.  A  little  later  the  message  itself  became 
corrupted  and  imperfect,  and  from  that  day  to  this  the  weakness  of  the 
gospel  plan  has  been  at  this  bottom  rung  of  the  great  ladder;  and  the 
weakness  is  threefold,  being  in  the  sender,  the  sent  and  the  thing  sent. 
In  Paul's  day  the  weakness  of  the  sending  churches  was  the  thing  to  be 
deplored.  For  this  the  Jew  was  chiefly  to  blame,  for  had  he  appreciated 
the  honor  and  privilege  and  anszvered  to  the  call  of  Christ,  the  world  could 
easily  have  been  evangelized  by  him,  for  he  had  synagogues  and  organized 
groups  of  worshipers,  and  a  popular  hearing  in  nearly  every  city  on  the 
habitable  globe;  but,  instead  of  becoming  a  help,  he.  with  all  his  accessories, 
became  a  hindrance.  For  the  weakness  of  evangelism  man,  and  especially 
Israel,  was  to  blame,  for  God's  part  was  perfect,  being  wrought  in  Christ. 
Moreover,  the  commision  of  Christ  was  full,  sufficient  and  final.  But  the 
Jew,  to  whom  message,  messenger  and  commission  first  came,  had  been  a 
visionless,  cold,  nnappreciative  and  defective  messenger  from  the  beginning. 
It  required  a  miracle  to  get  Peter  to  carry  the  message  to  the  Gentile 
Cornelius  (Acts  10),  and  even  then  his  Christian  brethren  found  fault 
(Acts  11),  and  accepted  as  an  unwelcome  but  inevitable  decree  of  God, 
that  which  should  have  inspired  them  to  shout  for  joy.  No  wonder,  then, 
the  Spirit  of  God  ceased  to  struggle  with  the  Jerusalem  church  in  this 
matter,  and  withdrew  to  Antioch,  making  it  the  missionary  center  of  the 
world.  As  ordaining  and  sending  were,  even  in  Paul's  day,  well-nigh  wholly 
in  the  hands  of  the  church,  so  that  even  Paul  himself  was  a  church-sent 
man  (Acts  13:2,  3),  it  is  hardlv  Hkelv  that  Paul's  words  here  are  lacking 
in  reference  to  this  fact,  for  (1)  the  Jew  was  extremely  culpable  in  failing 
to  further  the  sending  of  the  gospel;  (2)  the  Roman  church  generally 
needed  admonition  along  this  line,  for  the  apostle  was  looking  to  them  to 
aid  him  as  Christ's  messenger,  or  missionary,  to  Spain  (Rom.  15:22-29). 
Finally,  the  weakness  of  Christ's  coworkers,  the  senders,  was  the  problem 
in  Paul's  dav,  and  it  is  still  the  problem,  just  as  Jesus  covertly  prophesied 
when  he  said.  "Pray  ye  therefore,"  etc.  (Luke  10:2);  for  our  prayer 
though  directed  to  God.  must  be  answered  by  man.  for  he  is  de  facto  the 
sender  (or,  more  properly,  the  non-sender)  of  laborers  into  the  harvest. 
The  world  could  be  evangelized  in  a  single  generation  if  men  would  only 
send  the  gospel  to  its  peoples,  but  they  lack  that  vision  of  the  feet  beauti- 
ful which  thrilled  the  mighty  soul  of  the  lion  of  Benjamin,  the  apostle  to 
the  Gentiles. 


434  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

tlon]  even  as  it  is  written,  How  beautiful  are  the 
feet  of  them  that  bring  glad  tidings  of  good  things! 
[Isa.  52:7.  Paul  quotes  enough  to  suggest  the  full 
passage,  which  reads  thus :  "How  beautiful  upon  the 
mountains  are  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  good 
tidings,  that  publisheth  peace,  that  bringeth  good 
tidings  of  good,  that  publisheth  salvation,  that  saith 
unto  Zion,  Thy  God  reigneth !"  Paul  quotes  this 
exuberant,  throbbing  joy  of  Israel's  prophet  which  ex- 
pressed his  own  feelings,  as  a  sharp  contrast  to  the  sul- 
len, malignant,  vindictive  spirit  of  those  to  whom  he 
prophesied.  How  acceptable  was  Paul  and  how  glori- 
ous his  world-wide  message  as  visioned  to  the  evangel- 
ical Isaiah !  How  despisable  was  Paul,  and  how  ab- 
horrent his  message,  to  the  Israel  of  the  gospel  age ! 
The  contrast  suggests  that  some  one  erred :  which  was 
it?  Were  the  prophet  and  apostle  indulging  in  a  sinful 
joy?  or  were  the  Jews  playing  the  fool  of  all  fools  in 
excluding  themselves  from  it?  Though  the  citation 
from  Isaiah  has  a  primary  reference  to  the  restoration 
of  the  Jews  from  the  land  of  exile,  yet  it  is  unques- 
tionably Messianic,  for  that  very  restoration  from 
exile  ''derived  all  its  value,"  as  Hodge  observes,  "from 
being  introductory  to  that  most  glorious  deliverance 
to  be  effected  by  the  Redeemer."  "That  return,"  says 
Alford,  "has  regard  to  a  more  glorious  one  under  the 
future  Redeemer."  Besides,  the  prophet  has  been 
talking  of  Messianic  times,  when  "the  glory  of 
Jehovah  shall  be  revealed,  and  all  flesh  shall  see  it 
together"  (Isa.  40:5).  "Jewish  expositors,"  says 
Tholuck,  "no  less  apply  to  the  Messias  almost  the 
whole  of  the  chapter  (Isa.  52),  besides  the  quotation. 
(See  Wetstein,  ad  h.  /.)."  The  law  was  to  end  in 
the  gospel,  and  Israel  was  to  be  the  apostles  of  this 
joyful  development,  but  failed  through  blindness  as 
to  the  personality  of  the  Messiah  (a  suffering  sacri- 
fice for  sin,  and  not  a  great  conqueror  and  temporal 
ruler)  ;  through  ignorance  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
gospel  (salvation  by  faith,  and  not  by  the  acci- 
dent of  Abrahamic  descent)  ;  through  a  bigoted  nar- 


UNIVERSALITY    OF   THE    GOSPEL       435 

rowness  which  took  offense  at  the  iT;ospers  univer- 
sality (a  universality  which  offered  salvation  to 
Jew  and  Gentile  on  equal  terms,  and  was  devoid  of 
all  partiality).  Thus  it  happened  that  Paul  ran,  and 
Israel  forebore.  Finally,  as  to  the  words  of  Isaiah, 
let  us  compare  them  with  2  Sam.  18:26:  "And  the 
king  said,  He  also  bringeth  tidings.  And  the  watch- 
man said,  I  think  the  running  of  the  foremost  is  like 
the  running  of  Ahimaaz  the  son  of  Zadok.  And  the 
king  said.  He  is  a  good  man  and  cometh  with  good 
tidings."  Here  we  see  that  men  were  known  by 
their  running,  and  their  tidings  known  by  their  char- 
acter. With  these  facts  before  us,  the  imagery  of 
Isaiah  becomes  complete.  Jerusalem,  the  daughter 
of  Zion,  bereft  of  all  her  children  by  the  Babylonians, 
sits  in  sackcloth,  covered  with  the  dust  of  mourning 
and  bowed  with  grief  as  though  drawn  down  with 
chains  about  her  neck.  Suddenly  the  phantom  watch- 
men on  her  desolated  walls  see  her  Ahimaaz — her 
good  man  that  cometh  with  good  tidings ! — tidings 
of  the  return  of  all  her  lost  children!  Far  off  upon 
the  mountains  the  swift  glint  of  the  white  feet  tell 
of  that  speed  of  the  heart  which  urges  to  the  limit 
of  human  endurance.  With  such  a  message  what 
place  is  there  for  weariness !  All  the  long  miles  that 
lie  behind  are  forgotten,  and  as  the  goal  comes  in 
view  the  wings  of  the  soul  possess  the  feet,  and  the 
pace  increases  with  each  step  as  the  runner  presses 
toward  the  mark  or  prize  of  his  heart's  desires !  Ah, 
how  beautiful  upon  the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  him 
that  bringeth  good  tidings!  Sing!  watchmen,  for  ye 
shall  see  face  to  face  how  Jehovah  returned  to  Zion 
to  glorify  and  comfort  it  with  his  presence.  Awake, 
awake,  O  Zion !  Shake  off  thy  dust,  loose  thyself 
from  the  bonds  of  thy  neck,  and  put  on  thy  beautiful 
garments,  O  Jerusalem,  for  the  messenger  of  salva- 
tion is  at  thy  very  gates,  and  how  beautiful  is  his 
approach!  He  tells  of  thy  children  who  are  coming! 
coming!  journeying  homeward  behind  him!  No  won- 
der that  with   this   imagery  before   him   Paul   clung 


436  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

to  the  figure  of  the  runner  to  the  very  end  (Phil.  3 : 
12-14;  2  Tim.  4:7).  No  wonder,  either,  that  he 
could  not  forbear  adding"  this  quotation  as  the  climax 
of  his  argument,  that,  having  reared  a  granite  moun- 
tain, he  might  cap  it  with  the  glorifying  coronet  of 
sunshine  upon  snow,  thus  making  his  argument  as 
persuasive  by  its  glory  as  it  was  convincing  by  its 
power.  No  wonder  that  he  discerned  the  Messianic 
meaning  of  Isaiah's  message,  patent  even  to  unin- 
spired eyes.  Having  thus  completed  the  circle  of 
his  argument  from  the  message  to  the  universality 
of  the  message,  thence  to  the  extension  of  it,  and 
thence  again  to  the  means  of  extension,  and  finally 
back  to  the  message  itself  as  glorified  in  the  vision 
of  the  prophet,  the  apostle  is  ready  once  more  to 
grapple  the  Jew  and  show  his  inexcusable  sin  in 
rejecting  the  message.  However,  before  discussing 
what  follows  it  is  well  to  note  that  its  connection  of 
ideas  is  uncertain,  so  much  so  that  Stuart  justly  com- 
plains of  not  having  found  a  single  commentator  who 
gives  him  satisfaction  respecting  it.  The  connection 
is  not  stated,  and  is  therefore  difficult.  To  solve  the 
problem  we  must  find  the  unspoken  thought  in  the 
mind  of  the  apostle,  and  we  think  it  is  this.  The 
glorious  chain  of  God's  purpose  to  glorify  men  (Rom. 
8 :  28-30)  and  this  equally  glorious  chain  of  means 
to  that  end,  ought  to  make  the  gospel  as  universal 
as  God  designed  it  to  be;  but,  nevertheless,  so  great 
is  man's  sinful  perversity,  such  is  not  the  case ;  and 
the  Scripture  so  foretold  it,  and,  in  foretelling,  ex- 
plained it,  and  exposed  the  reason.  Hence  he  con- 
tinues] 16  But  they  did  not  all  hearken  to  [Hupa- 
kouoo:  a  word  derived  from  the  verb  akouoo,  which 
is  translated  "heard,"  and  "hear"  in  verse  14.  It 
means  to  hear  attentwely,  to  give  heed  to,  to  obey} 
the  glad  tidings.  For  Isaiah  saith  [predicted].  Lord, 
who  hath  believed  our  report?  [Akoe;  also  a  word 
derived  from  akouoo  of  verse  14,  meaning  the  thing 
that  is  caused  to  be  heard]  17  So  [as  I  said,  and,  as 
you   see,   Isaiah   corroborates]    belief  cometh  of    [is 


UNIVERSALITY    OF    THE    GOSPEL       437 

born  of,  or  grows  out  of]  hearing,  and  hearing  by 
[by  reason  of,  because  of]  the  word  [saying,  behest, 
command.  See  Luke  5:5;  Heb.  11:3;  1:3]  of  Christ. 
[And  so,  briefly  paraphrasing  the  apostle's  thought, 
it  runs  thus :  Can  God's  glorious  purpose  and  inim- 
itable means  fail  to  accomplish  the  universal  glorifi- 
cation of  man?  Assuredly  they  can,  for  Isaiah  so 
predicted.  To  accomplish  universal  salvation  there 
must  be  a  universal  heed-hearing.  But  Isaiah  com- 
plained, ''Lord,  who  hath  believed  that  which  we 
have  caused  them  to  hear?"  meaning  that  very  few 
gave  a  heed-hearing.  So  we  see  from  Isaiah  that  it 
is  precisely  as  I  said  (vs.  14,  15)  ;  namely,  that  belief 
comes  of  hearing,  and  hearing  is  caused  by  the  com- 
mand or  commission  of  Christ,  as  is  made  apparent 
by  the  fact  that  Isaiah  reports  back  to  Christ  (whom 
he  calls  Lord)  that  men  have  not  heard  what  Christ 
sent,  or  commissioned,  him  to  tell  them.  How  cul- 
pable, then,  was  Israel  as  foreseen  in  the  visions  of 
Isaiah  and  as  literally  seen  by  the  eyes  of  Paul !  A 
message  commanded  by  Christ  the  Lord !  How  could 
they  be  excused  for  not  giving  it  a  heed-hearing,  an 
obedience?  Only  in  two  ways:  first,  by  showing 
that  they  had  never  heard  it;  second,  by  proving  that 
they  were  misled  by  their  Scriptures  so  that  they 
could  not  recognize  it  as  coming  from  their  Lord — 
and  the  point  where  they  would  assert  and  attempt 
to  prove  the  misleading  was  this  very  one  now 
mooted;  namely,  universality,  for  the  Jew  regarded 
the  reception  of  the  Gentile  as  contrary  to  all  that 
God  had  ever  revealed,  or  caused  to  be  written  down. 
Therefore  the  apostle  takes  these  two  excuses  in 
order,  and  exposes  their  emptiness.]  18  But  I  say 
[To  give  my  cornered  Jewish  objector  every  chance 
to  escape  from  his  obvious  culpability,  I  ask  in  his 
behalf  this  question],  Did  they  not  hear?  [This 
question  demands  a  negative  answer— a  denial  of 
the  "not  heard,"  and  is  therefore  an  emphatic  way 
of  asserting  that  they  had  heard.  'They"  is  unlim- 
ited, all  had  heard  it,  so  the  Jew  could  never  plead 


438  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

lack  of  hearing  as  an  excuse  for  rejecting  the  gospel. 
Having  thus  asserted  his  position  in  the  question,  he 
proceeds  to  prove  it  in  the  answer]  Yea,  verily 
[Mcnounge.  See  note  on  Rom.  9:20,  p.  402.],  Their 
sound  [Ps.  19:4.  'The  Psalmist,"  says  Clark,  "has 
kai'Z'ain,  their  line,  which  the  LXX.,  and  the  apostle 
who  quotes  from  them,  render  phthoggos,  sound." 
Line  means  string,  harpstring,  a  tone,  a  chord,  and 
then,  metonymically,  sound']  went  out  into  all  the 
earth,  And  their  words  unto  the  ends  of  the  world. 
[It  was  Alford  who,  in  this  connection,  discovered 
''that  Psalm  19  is  a  comparison  of  the  sun,  and  glory 
of  the  heavens,  with  the  zvord  of  God.  As  far  as 
verse  6  the  glories  of  nature  are  described :  then  the 
great  subject  is  taken  up,  and  the  parallelism  carried 
out  to  the  end.  So  that  the  apostle  has  not,  as 
alleged  in  nearly  all  the  commentators,  merely  ac- 
commodated the  text  allegorically,  but  taken  it  in  its 
context,  and  followed  the  comparison  of  the  Psalm." 
The  light  of  the  knowledge  of  God  had  hitherto  been 
confined  to  the  narrow  space  of  Palestine,  but  the 
light  of  the  gospel  had  now  passed  beyond  these 
boundaries,  and  had  begun  to  be  as  world-illumina- 
ting as  the  celestial  orbs,  and  in  doing  this  it  had  only 
fulfilled  the  words  of  David.  God  had  done  his  part 
as  thoroughly  in  grace  as  it  had  been  done  in  nature, 
and  no  Jew  could  excuse  himself  at  the  expense  of 
God's  good  name.  ''There  is  not,"  says  Godet,  ex- 
pressing the  sentiments  of  Paul,  born  of  the  memories 
of  his  own  ministry,  "a  synagogue  which  has  not 
been  filled  with  it,  not  a  Jew  in  the  world  who  can 
justly  plead  ignorance  on  the  subject."  "When  the 
vast  multitude  converted  at  Pentecost,"  says  John- 
son, "were  scattered  to  their  homes,  they  carried  the 
gospel  into  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world."  (Comp. 
Tit.  2:11;  Col.  1:6,  23.)  This  bestowal  of  natural 
light  and  bounty  universally  was  more  than  a  sug- 
gestion that  God  intended  to  bestow  spiritual  light 
and  grace  upon  all.  (Comp.  Acts  14:17.)  "As  he 
spake,"   says   Calvin,    "to   the    Gentiles   by   the   voice 


UNIVERSALITY    OF    THE    GOSPEL       439 

of  the  heavens,  he  showed  by  this  prelude  that  he 
desig'ned  to  make  himself  known  at  length  to  them 
also."  "It  was,"  says  Hengstenberg,  "a  pledge  of 
their  participation  in  the  clearer,  higher  revelation."] 
19  But  I  say  [Again  I  ask  a  question  to  give  my 
Jewish  objector  the  benefit  of  every  loophole  of 
escape.  See  verse  18],  Did  Israel  not  know?  [This 
question  also  requires  a  negative  answer,  and  thus, 
being  like  the  preceding  question,  the  negative  of  a 
negative,  it  amounts  to  a  strong  affirmative.  Assur- 
edly Israel  knew.  But  knew  what?  AAhy,  the  fact 
just  asserted,  to  wit,  that  the  gospel  should  sound 
out  to  all,  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  as  freely  as  light 
and  sunshine,  according  to  the  world-wide  commis- 
sion or  command  of  Christ.  Did  this  fact  take  Israel 
by  surprise?  Was  the  issuing  of  a  world-wide  com- 
mission a  thing  untaught  in  their  Scriptures,  allow- 
ing them  to  plead  ignorance  of  it?  Had  Paul  cited 
the  promise  to  Abraham,  "In  thee  shall  all  the  fam- 
ilies of  the  earth  be  blessed"  (Gen.  12:3),  then  the 
Jew  would  have  claimed  that  this  promise  must  be 
fulfilled  by  their  all  becoming  Jews  (Acts  15:1).  But 
he  begins  with  Moses,  the  first  writer  of  Scripture, 
and  cites  a  passage  which  precludes  the  idea  of 
blessing  by  absorption  or  amalgamation,  for  it  is 
plainly  blessing  in  rivalry  and  opposition.]  First 
Moses  saith  ["First  in  the  prophetic  line"  {De 
Wette).  First  in  point  of  time  and  place,  as  Isaiah 
was  near  the  last.  His  two  citations  therefore  sug- 
gest the  entire  trend  of  Scripture,  from  beginning  to 
end.  Compare  the  "said  before"  of  Rom.  9:29],  I 
will  provoke  you  to  jealousy  with  that  which  is  no 
nation,  With  a  nation  void  of  understanding  will  I 
anger  you.  [The  passage  cited  is  Deut.  32:21.  The 
Jews  had  moved  God  to  jealousy  by  their  "no-gods" 
(idols),  and  had  provoked  him  to  anger  by  thc'r 
vanities;  he  therefore  prophetically  announces  that  l:c 
wqll  provoke  them  to  like  jealousy  and  anger  by 
adopting  in  their  stead  a  "no-people,"  a  foolish 
nation.     A  "no-people"  describes  a  nation  which  has 


440  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

no  covenant  relation  with  God,  and  hence  is  not 
recognized  as  his  people.  A  ''foolish  nation"  de- 
scribes one  made  wise  by  no  revelation.  The  weight 
of  the  citation  was  greatly  increased  by  the  name  of 
Moses  attached  to  it,  and  by  the  remoteness  of  the 
period  when  uttered.  Many  utterances  of  the  proph- 
ets sounded  harsh  and  hostile,  but  no  one  had  ever 
doubted  the  loyal  friendship  of  Moses  to  Israel ;  yet 
Moses  said  this  even  in  his  day.]  20  And  Isaiah  is 
very  bold  [''What  Moses  insinuates,  Isaiah  cries  out 
boldly  and  plainly"  (Bengel).  And  Isaiah  is  the 
favorite  prophet  of  the  Jewish  people  to  this  day!], 
and  saith,  I  was  found  of  them  that  sought  me  not; 
I  became  ^manifest  unto  them  that  asked  not  of  me. 
[Isa.  65:1.  (Comp.  Isa.  49:1-9;  52:15;  54:5;  66:3- 
5,  18-21.)  They  sought  me  not  until  I  first  sought 
them,  and  they  asked  not  of  me  until  I  made  myself 
known  and  invited  them  to  offer  their  petitions. 
Such  is  the  full  meaning-  in  the  light  of  gospel  facts. 
"That  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles,"  says  Brown,  "was 
meant  by  these  words  of  the  prophet,  is  manifest  from 
what  immediately  follows.  'I  said,  Behold  me,  behold 
me,  unto  a  nation  that  was  not  called  by  my  name.'  " 
Thus  God's  design  to  call  another  people  besides  the 
Jews  was  so  plainly  revealed  in  Scripture  that  Israel 
was  without  excuse  for  not  knowing  it.  "Nothing," 
says  Lard,  "is  more  inexplicable  than  their  blindness, 
unless  it  be  their  persistence  in  it."  Normally  we 
would  say  that  if  God  was  found  of  strangers,  much 
more  would  he  be  found  of  his  own  people.  But  the 
ignorance  and  corruption  of  the  Gentiles  constituted 
a  darkness  more  easily  dissipated  by  the  light  of  the 
gospel,  than  the  proud  obduracy  and  abnormal  self- 
righteousness  of  the  Jews.  The  universal  preaching 
of  the  gospel  made  this  quickly  manifest,  and,  as 
Paul  shows  us,  Isaiah  foretold  it.]  21  But  as  to  Israel 
he  saith  [Isa.  65:2],  All  the  day  long  did  I  spread 
out  of  my  hands  unto  a  disobedient  and  gainsaying 
people.  [Here  Isaiah  presents  the  full  contrast  be- 
tween the  Gentiles  and  Jews.     Commentators  gener- 


UNIVERSALITY    OF    THE    GOSPEL       441 

ally  regard  the  spread-out  hands  as  picturing  those 
of  a  parent  extended  toward  a  wayward  or  prodigal 
child ;  but  we  have  no  such  usage  in  Scripture.  As 
Plumer  observes :  "When  Paul  stretched  out  his  hand, 
he  beckoned  to  the  people  that  he  might  cause 
silence  and  secure  attention  (Acts  21:40).  Some- 
times stretching  out  the  hand  is  for  rescue  and  de- 
liverance (Deut.  26:8).  Sometimes  it  is  to  offer 
and  bestow  benefits  (Isa.  26:10,  11).  Sometimes  it 
is  the  gesture  of  threatening,  chastening,  displaying 
of  powers  in  miracles  (Deut.  4:34).  Sometimes  it 
points  the  way  in  which  we  should  walk  or  run. 
No  gesture  is  more  natural  than  this.  Again,  stretch- 
ing out  the  hand  is  the  posture  of  earnest  address 
and  imploring  supplication."  This  last  is  evidently 
the  sense  in  which  it  is  here  used.  "All  the  day 
long"  may  refer  to  the  entire  length  of  the  Mosaic 
dispensation,  but  it  has  here  especial  reference  to 
the  time  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  their  exclu- 
sive ministry  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel ; 
for  at  no  other  time  was  God's  supplication  with 
Israel  so  marked,  and  at  no  other  season  was  the 
rejection  of  the  Lord  so  personal,  so  vehement,  so 
bitter  and  cruel ;  all  the  Gospels  are  full  of  it,  and 
the  rejection  of  the  Son  was  the  rejection  of  the 
Fat^her  (John  14 :  7-9 ;  2  John  9 ;  John  5  :  23 ;  1  John 
5:7).  Moreover,  compare  the  "this  day"  of  Luke 
19 :  42.  "Gainsaying"  is  added  to  the  Hebrew  by 
the  LXX.  Pool  aptly  says :  "They  were  disobedient 
in  heart  and  gainsaying  with  their  tongues,  .contrary 
to  those  two  gracious  qualifications  mentioned  at 
verses  9  and  10,  belief  in  the  heart  and  confession  of 
the  mouth.  Their  gainsaying  answers  to  "repliest" 
of  Rom.  9 :  20.  For  examples  of  this  sin  on  their 
part,  see  Mark  15:8-15;  Acts  3:13,  14;  7:51-57; 
13:45,  50;  14:2,  19;  17:5;  17:13;  18:12.  "Gainsay- 
ing," says  Godet,  "characterizes  the  hair-splittings 
and  sophisms  whereby  the  Israelites  seek  to  justify 
their  persevering  refusal  to  return  to  God."  As  we 
glance  back  over  the  ninth  and  tenth  chapters,  they 


442  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

reveal  clearly  how  Israel,  zealous  for  religious  monop- 
oly and  their  exclusive  rights  under  the  law,  hardened 
their  hearts  and  rejected  the  gospel,  though  grace 
followed  them  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  with  the  offer 
of  salvation.  Surely  it  was  their  own  wickedness, 
and  no  arbitrary,  cold  decree  absolute,  which  excluded 
them  from  salvation;  and  it  is  equally  certain  that 
the  Being  whom  Jesus  called  Father,  and  who  sent 
•our  Lord  as  a  world's  Saviour,  will  never  rest  or 
desist  until  the  dark  picture  of  a  lost  Israel  is  trans- 
formed and  transfigured  with  the  glory  of  the  heav- 
enly light  by  the  ultimate  inbringing  of  all  Israel,  to 
be,  with  the  purged  Gentiles,  one  kingdom  of  God 
upon  earth. 

III. 

THIRD     EXPLANATION     OF     THE      GRAND 

CONCLUSION— THE  CASTING  OFF  OF 

ISRAEL   IS   BUT   PARTIAL,  AN 

ELECT  REMNANT  BEING 

SAVED  BY  FAITH. 

11:1-10. 

[In  the  tenth  chapter  Paul's  argument  for  gospel 
universality  only  required  him  to  show  by  Scripture 
that  the  Gentiles  were  to  be  received  independently; 
L  e.,  without  first  becoming  Jews.  But  the  Scripture 
which  best  established  this  fact  also  proved  a  larger, 
greater  fact;  viz.,  that  the  reception  of  the  Gentiles 
would  so  move  the  Jews  to  anger  and  jealousy  that 
they  would,  as  a  people,  reject  the  gospel,  and  there- 
by cease  to  be  a  covenant  people,  and  become  a 
cast-oi¥,  rejected  nation.  This  fact  is  so  clearly  and 
emphatically  proved  that  it  might  be  thought  that, 
as  Tholuck  puts  it,  ''the  whole  nation,  conjointly 
and  severally,  had,  by  some  special  judgment  of  God, 
been  shut  out  from  the  Messiah's  kingdom."  The 
denial   of  this   false   inference   is  the   burden  of  the 


■  AN   ELECT   REMNANT   SAVED  443 

section  now  before  us.     In  this  section  he  will  show 
that  the  casting  off  of  Israel  is  not  total,  but  partial: 
in  the  next  section  he  will  show  that  it  is  not  final, 
but  temporary.]     XI.  1  I  say  then  [Again,  as  in  verses 
18    and    19    of    the    previous    chapter,    Paul,    for    the 
benefit  of  the  Jewish  objector,  draws  a  false  inference 
from  what  has  been   said,   that   he   may   face   it   and 
correct   it],   Did   God   cast   off  his   people?      [Appar- 
ently, yes;  but  really,  no.     He  had  only  rejected  the 
unbelieving  who  first  rejected  him.     True,  these  con- 
stituted   almost    the    entire    nation;    but    it    was    not 
God's    act    that    rejected    them;    it    was    what    they 
themselves  did  in  rejecting  God  in  the  person  of  his 
Son  that  fixed  their  fate.     Israel  as  believing  was  as 
welcome   and   acceptable   as   ever.      So    God   has   not 
rejected    them.      'The    very    title    his    people/'    says 
Bengel,  ''contains  the  reason  for  denying  it."     Comp. 
1    Sam.    12:22.)      God   had   promised   not   to   forsake 
his  people    (Ps.  94:14).     He  kept  the  promise  with 
those  who  did  not  utterly  forsake  him,  but  as  to  the 
rest,   the   majority,   Jesus   foretold   that   the   kingdom 
should  be  taken  from  them  (Matt.  21:41-43).     Comp. 
Matt.  22:7;   Luke  21:24.]      God  forbid.      [A  formal 
denial  to  be  followed  by  double  proof.]      For  I  also 
am  an  Israelite   [De  Wette,  Meyer  and  Gifford  con- 
strue  this   as   equal   to:   I   am   too   good   a   Jew,   too 
patriotic,  to  say  such  a  thing.     As  if  Scripture  were 
warped  and  twisted  to  suit  the  whims  and  to  avoid 
offending  the   political   prejudices   of  its   writers!      If 
Paul  was  governed  by  his  personal  feelings,  he  ceased 
to  be  a  true  prophet.    Had  he  followed  his  feelings,  in- 
stead of  revealed   truth,   he   would  have   avoided  the 
necessity  for  writing  the  sad  lines  at  Rom.  9 :  1-3.    The 
true  meaning  is  this :  God  has  not  cast  away  en  masse, 
and  without  discrimination  or  distinction,  the  totality 
of  his  ancient  people,  for  I  myself  am  a  living  denial 
of    such    a    conclusion ;    or,    as    Eubank    interprets    it, 
such  a  concession   would  exclude  the   writer  himself 
(as  to  whose  Christianity  no  Jew  has  ever  had  any 
doubts).      "Had    it    been,"    says    Chrysostom,    "God's 


444  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

intention  to  reject  that  nation,  he  never  would  have 
selected  from  it  the  individual  [Paul]  to  w^hom  he 
was  about  to  entrust  [had  already  entrusted]  the 
entire  work  of  preaching  and  the  concerns  of  the 
whole  globe,  and  all  the  mysteries  and  the  whole 
economy  of  the  church"],  of  the  seed  of  Abraham 
["A  Jew  by  nurture  and  nation"  (Biirkitt).  Not  a 
proselyte,  nor  the  son  of  a  proselyte,  but  a  lineal 
descendant  from  Abraham.  Compare  his  words  at 
Acts  22:28],  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.  [Comp.  Phil. 
3 :  5.  Though  the  apostle  had  reason  to  be  proud  of 
his  tribe  as  furnishing  the  first  king  in  Saul  (1  Sam. 
9:16)  and  the  last  BibHcal  queen  in  Esther  (Esth. 
2:17),  yet  that  is  not  the  reason  for  mentioning 
Benjamin  here.  He  is  showing  that  God  had  not 
cast  ofif  the  Theocracy,  and  he  mentions  himself  as 
of  Benjamin,  which  was  second  only  to  Judah  in 
theocratic  honor.  On  the  revolt  of  the  ten  tribes  it 
constituted  with  Judah  the  surviving  Theocracy  (1 
Kings  12:21),  and  after  the  captivity  it  returned  with 
Judah  and  again  helped  to  form  the  core  or  kernel  of 
the  Jewish  nation  (Ezra  4:1;  10 :  9).  The  apostle  was 
no  Jew  by  mere  family  tradition  (Ezra  2:61-63; 
Neh.  7:63-65),  nor  Avas  he  of  the  ten  tribes  of  out- 
casts, but  he  was  duly  registered  as  of  the  inner 
circle,  and  therefore  his  acceptance  proved  the  point 
desired.]  2  God  did  not  cast  off  his  people  which 
he  foreknew.  [Here  is  the  second  proof  that  God 
did  not  cast  ofif  his  people.  It  is  in  the  nature  of  an 
axiom,  a  statement  which  is  so  palpably  true  that  it 
needs  no  corroboration.  God's  foreknowledge  can 
not  fail,  therefore  that  nation  which  in  the  eternity 
before  the  world  he  knew  to  be  his  own  nation,  can 
not  ultimately  fail  to  become  his  nation.  "Of  all 
the  peoples  of  the  earth,"  says  Godet,  "one  only  was 
[published  and  openly  designated  as]  chosen  and 
known  beforehand,  by  an  act  of  divine  foreknowledge 
and  love,  as  the  people  whose  history  would  be  iden- 
tified with  the  realization  of  salvation.  In  all  others 
salvation    is   the    affair   of  individuals,   but    here    the 


AN   ELECT   REMNANT   SAVED  445 

notion  of  salvation  is  attached  to  the  nation  itself; 
not  that  the  liberty  of  individuals  is  in  the  least 
compromised  by  the  collective  desig-nation.  The 
Israelites  contemporary  with  Jesus  might  reject  him; 
an  indefinite  series  of  generations  may  for  ages  per- 
petuate this  fact  of  national  unbelief.  God  is  under 
no  pressure ;  time  can  stretch  out  as  long-  as  he 
pleases.  He  will  add,  if  need  be,  ages  to  ages,  until 
there  come  at  length  the  generation  disposed  to  open 
their  eyes  and  freely  welcome  their  Messiah-.  God 
foreknew  this  nation  as  believing  and  saved,  and 
sooner  or  later  they  can  not  fail  to  be  both."  Comp. 
Acts  15:15-18;  Isa.  45:17;  59:20;  Jer.  31:31, 
34;  Ezek.  34:22;  37:23;  39:25;  Rom.  11:26.]  Or 
know  ye  not  what  the  scripture  saith  of  Elijah? 
[Literally,  in  Elijah.  Anciently  Scripture  and  other 
waitings  were  not  divided  into  chapters  and  verses, 
but  into  sections.  These  among  the  Jews  were  called 
Parashah.  Instead  of  being  numbered,  they  had 
titles  to  them,  describing  the  contents.  Thus  it 
came  to  pass  that  any  one  wishing  to  refer  to  a  pas- 
sage of  Scripture  would  quote  enough  of  the  Para- 
shah's  title  to  identify  it.  So  Paul  here  quotes  words 
found  "in  [the  Parashah  about]  Elijah";  viz.,  1  Kings 
19:10-18.  Comp.  Mark  12:26;  Luke  20:37]  how 
he  pleadeth  with  God  against  Israel:  3  Lord,  they 
have  killed  thy  prophets,  they  have  digged  down  thine 
altars;  and  I  am  left  alone,  and  they  seek  my  life. 
[Against  these  two  proofs  adduced  by  the  apostle  it 
might  be  objected  that  if  God  was  not  rejecting  his 
people  he  must  be  receiving  them,  but  you,  Paul, 
practically  admit  that  this  is  not  the  case,  for,  were 
it  so,  why  can  you  point  only  to  your  single  self 
as  accepted?  Surely  your  very  proofs  are  against 
you.  To  this  objection  Paul  presents  a  third  proof 
— i.  e.,  the  case  of  Elijah — and  his  argument,  para- 
phrased, runs  thus :  You  err  in  supposing  that  I 
alone  am  accepted,  and  this  I  will  prove  by  the  case 
of  Elijah,  who,  prophet  of  prophets  though  he  was, 
erred  in  so  judging  by  appearances  as  to  think  that 


446  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

he  alone  remained  acceptable.  The  law  required 
that  the  nation  use  the  one  altar  which  stood  in 
front  of  the  sanctuary  in  Jerusalem  (Lev.  17:8,  9; 
Deut.  12:1-14).  But  the  Rabbins  say  (see  Light- 
foot  and  Whitby  ad  h.  I.)  that  when  the  ten  tribes 
revolted,  and  their  kings  forbade  them  to  go  up  to 
Jerusalem  to  worship,  then  this  law  ceased  as  to 
them,  and  the  Lord  permitted  them  to  build  other 
altars  and  sacrifice  on  them  as  at  the  beginning  (Gen. 
12:7,  8;  13:4,  18;  22:9;  26:25;  33:20;  35:1-7;  46; 
1),  and  as  they  did  before  worship  was  centered  at 
Jerusalem  (1  Sam.  7:9,  17;  9:13;  11:15;  16:2,  3). 
That  this  is  so  is  proved  by  the  conduct  of  Elijah, 
who  reconstructed  the  Lord's  altar  on  Mt.  Carmel 
(which  these  apostates  of  Avhom  he  speaks  had 
thrown  down)  and  offered  sacrifice  thereon,  and  the 
Lord  publicly  sanctioned  and  approved  the  altar  by 
sending  fire  from  heaven  (1  Kings  18:30-39).  The 
altars  were  to  be  made  of  earth  and  unhewn  stone  (Ex. 
20:24,  25),  hence  it  was  proper  to  speak  of  digging 
them  doAvn.]  4  But  what  saith  the  answer  of  God 
unto  him?  I  have  left  for  myself  seven  thousand 
men,  who  have  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal.  [Jezebel 
and  Ahab,  in  their  zeal  for  the  Phoenician  god,  Baal, 
had  apparently  exterminated  the  worship  of  the  true 
God.  At  least,  Elijah  was  deceived  into  so  thinking. 
But  the  answer  of  God  corrected  his  mistake.  Paul 
inserts  the  words  "for  myself."  "/.  e./'  says  Meyer, 
"to  myself  as  my  property,  and  for  my  service,  in 
contrast  to  the  idolatrous  abomination,"  or  service  of 
idols.  The  feminine  article  te  is  inserted  before  Baal, 
and  this  has  greatly  puzzled  expositors,  for  the  LXX. 
haA^e  the  masculine  article.  It  has  been  explained 
in  various  ways ;  Erasmus  and  others  by  supposing 
a  feminine  noun  such  as  eikoni  (image)  to  be  under- 
stood ;  Estius,  etc.,  by  supposing  stele  (statue)  to  be 
supplied,  or,  as  Lightfoot  and  Alford  think,  damalei 
(calf)  ;  or,  according  to  Reiche,  that  there  was  a 
female  Baal ;  or,  as  Wetstein  and  Olshausen,  that 
Baal   was    androgynous    (an    hermaphrodite)  ;   or,    as 


AN   ELECT   REMNANT   SAVED  447 

Gesenius  and  Tholuck,  that  the  feminine  was  used  of 
idols  in  contempt ;  or,  as  Fritsche,  Ewald  and  Barmby, 
that  Paul  may  have  happened  upon  a  copy  of  the 
LXX.  which  gave  the  feminine  instead  of  the  mas- 
cuHne.  Of  the  above  we  prefer  to  supply  damalei, 
calf,  following  the  reasoning  of  Lightfoot.  Baal  was 
both  a  specific  name  for  the  Phoenician  god,  and  also 
a  common  name  for  idols,  hence  the  plural,  Baalim. 
Of  idols  at  the  time  referred  to,  Israel  had  two  of 
great  prominence:  1.  The  idol  to  the  Phoenician  god 
Baal,  whose  image  was  a  bull.  2.  The  golden  calves 
set  up  by  Jeroboam,  at  Bethel  and  Dan.  Now,  it 
would  avail  nothing  if  Israel  rejected  one  of  these 
idols,  yet  worshiped  the  other,  as  in  the  case  of  Jehu, 
who  rooted  out  the  Phoenician,  but  accepted  the  calf 
of  Jeroboam.  But  calf  Baal  would  be  an  inclusive  ex- 
pression, striking  at  both  forms  of  idolatry.  (Comp. 
also  1  Kings  19:18  with  Hos.  13:2.)  Moreover,  the 
Phoenician  worship  was  but  recently  re-established 
and  had  received  a  terrific  blow  at  the  hand  of  Elijah, 
while  Jeroboam's  calves  were  old  and  popular,  hence 
we  find  in  Tobit  the  expression,  "And  all  the  tribes 
that  revolted  together,  sacrificed  to  the  calf  Baal" 
(literally,  te  Baal,  te  damalei;  to  Baal,  to  the  calf — 
Tob.  1:5).  Here  we  have  an  instance  where  the 
word  damalei  is  actually  supplied,  and  that  by  a 
Hebrew  writer,  and  "where,"  as  Alford  adds,  "the 
golden  calves  of  the  ten  tribes  seem  to  be  identified 
with  Baal,  and  were  a  curious  addition  in  [the  man- 
uscript] Aleph  refers  expressly  to  their  establishment 
by  Jeroboam.]  5  Even  so  then  at  this  present  time 
also  there  is  a  remnant  according  to  the  election  of 
grace.  [Resuming  the  argument.  "As  at  the  time  of 
the  great  deflection  in  Elijah's  day  there  seemed  to 
him  to  be  but  one,  yet  God  had  reserved  to  himself 
seven  thousand,  so  now  in  this  time  of  falling  away, 
you  who  judge  by  outward  appearance  will  judge  just 
as  poorly.  You  may  think  derisively  that  I  am  the  sole 
representative  of  the  election  of  which  I  speak,  but, 
scattered  and  dispersed  as  they  are,  there  are  vastly 


448  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

more  than  you  dream  (comp.  Acts  21 :  20)  ;  for  the 
unchangeable  God  always  reserves  to  himself  a  rem- 
nant, whom  he  has  chosen  as  his  own."  ''One  thing 
indeed,"  says  Godet,  "follows  from  the  election  of 
grace  applied  to  the  whole  of  Israel ;  not  the  salvation 
of  such  or  such  individuals,  but  the  indestructible 
existence  of  a  believing  remnant  at  all  periods  of 
their  history,  even  in  the  most  disastrous  crises  of 
unbelief,  as  at  the  time  of  the  ministry  of  Elijah,  or 
of  the  coming  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  idea  contained  in 
the  words,  'according  to  the  election  of  grace,'  is 
therefore  this :  In  virtue  of  the  election  of  Israel  as 
the  salvation-people,  God  has  not  left  them  in  our 
day  without  a  faithful  remnant,  any  more  than  he  did 
in  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  at  the  period  when 
a  far  grosser  heathenism  was  triumphant."  In  the 
eternal  purpose  of  God  the  election  of  the  salvation- 
class  preceded  any  human  act,  but  it  does  not  there- 
fore follow  that  it  preceded  a  prcsumptizre,  suppositi- 
tious act.  The  same  wisdom  which  foresaw  the 
election  also  foresaw  the  compliance  of  the  elect 
individual  with  the  terms  and  conditions  of  election. 
This  must  be  so,  for  in  the  outworking  of  the  eternal 
purpose  in  the  realms  of  the  actual,  man  must  first 
comply  with  the  conditions  of  election  before  he  be- 
comes one  of  the  elect;  for,  as  Lard  wisely  says, 
"election  or  choosing,  in  the  case  of  the  redeemed, 
does  not  precede  obedience,  and  therefore  is  neither 
the  cause  of  it  nor  reason  for  it.  On  the  contrary, 
obedience  precedes  election,  and  is  both  the  condition 
of  it  and  reason  for  it.  Obedience  is  man's  own  free 
act,  to  which  he  is  never  moved  by  any  prior  election 
of  God.  Choosing,  on  the  other  hand,  is  God's  free 
act,  prompted  by  favor  and'conditioned  on  obedience. 
This  obedience,  it  is  true,  he  seeks  to  elicit  by  the 
proper  motives ;  but  to  this  he  is  led  solely  by  love  of 
man,  and  never  by  previous  choice.  True  Scriptural 
election,  therefore,  is  a  simple,  intelligible  thing,  when 
suffered  to  remain  unperplexed  by  the  subtleties  of 
schoolmen."     As   the   open   reference   to   Elijah   con- 


'AN  ELECT  REMNANT  SAVED  449 

tains  a  covert  one  to  Ahab  and  his  Israel,  Chrysostom 
bids  us  "reflect  on  tlie  apostle's  skill,  and  how,  in 
proving  the  proposition  before  him,  he  secretly  aug- 
ments the  charge  against  the  Jews.  For  the  object 
he  had  in  view,  in  bringing  forward  the  whole  of  that 
testimony,  was  to  manifest  their  ingratitude,  and  to 
show  that  of  old  they  had  been  what  they  were 
now."]  6  But  if  it  is  by  grace,  it  is  no  more  of  works : 
otherwise  grace  is  no  more  grace.  [With  these 
words,  Paul  explains  the  last  clause  of  the  preceding 
verse — viz.,  "the  election  of  grace" — and  thereby 
shows  that  he  means  them  in  their  full  sense,  and 
abides  by  that  meaning.  Alford  paraphrases  his 
meaning  thus:  "And  let  us  remember,  when  we  say 
an  election  of  grace,  how  much  those  words  imply; 
viz.,  nothing  short  of  the-  entire  exclusion  of  all 
human  zvork  from  the  question.  Let  these  two  terms 
[grace  and  work]  be  regarded  as  and  kept  distinct 
from  one  another,  and  do  not  let  us  attempt  to  mix 
them  and  so  destroy  the  meaning  of  each."  He 
means  that  grace  and  works  are  absolutely  antitheti- 
cal and  mutually  exclusive.  Paul  is  talking  about 
works  of  the  lazv,  not  about  the  gospel  terms  or  con- 
ditions  of  salvation.  These  terms  are  faith,  repentance 
and  baptism,  and  complying  with  them  made,  and 
still  makes,  anybody  one  of  the  elect.  But  does  this 
compliance  fulfill  any  part,  parcel  or  portion  of  the 
Mosaic  law?  Assuredly  not.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
seeking  salvation  by  another  way.  Moreover,  the  one 
complying  with  these  conditions  is  immediately  one  of 
the  elect.  Has  he,  then,  in  any  way  merited  election, 
or  is  it  wholly  of  grace?"  Even  granting  that  there  is 
some  work  in  complying  with  these  conditions,  could 
any  one  so  lack  brains  as  to  be  confused  into  think- 
ing that  the  work  zveighs  anything  as  a  meritorious 
basis  on  which  to  demand  election  to  that  unspeak- 
able gift,  eternal  life?  But  do  not  the  works  of  a 
Christian  life  count  as  merit  toward  election?  As- 
suredly not ;  for  they  are  wrought  after  the  election 
has  taken  place.     In  short,  almost  like  Jacob,  we  are 


450  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

elected  at  the  moment  of  our  birth  from  the  water, 
when  we  are  spiritual  babes  in  Christ  (John  3:5; 
Tit.  3:5),  ''neither  having  done  anything  good  or  bad, 
that  the  purpose  of  God,"  etc.  (Rom.  9:11).  Com- 
plying with  the  gospel  conditions  of  election  is  mere 
spiritual  birth,  and  what  merit  hath  an  infant  though 
its  struggles  aid  in  its  parturition?  We  are  by  the 
process  of  conversion  brought  no  further  than  the 
condition  of  babes  in  Christ  (1  Cor.  3:1-3;  Heb.  5: 
11-14;  1  Pet.  2:2),  and  our  birth-throes  are  without 
merit,  though  essential  to  our  further  continuance 
in  life.  There  is,  therefore,  nothing  in  the  gospel 
conditions  which  conflict  with  the  doctrine  of  election 
by  grace,  nor  do  they  mix  works  with  grace.]  7 
What  then?  [What  results  from  the  facts  just 
stated?  If  God  only  acknowledges  covenant  relations 
with  a  remnant,  and  with  them  only  by  grace,  surely 
you  expect  me  to  make  some  statement  as  to  the 
status  of  the  bulk  of  Israel.  My  statement  is  this :] 
That  which  Israel  [the  bulk  or  main  body  of  the 
nation]  seeketh  for,  that  he  obtained  not;  but  the 
election  obtained  it,  and  the  rest  were  hardened  [The 
search  spoken  of  is  that  with  which  we  are  already 
•familiar;  viz.,  the  endeavor  to  obtain  justification  be- 
fore God.  All  Israel  sought  this  treasure.  Those 
seeking  it  by  the  works  of  the  law  (the  vast  majority 
of  the  nation)  failed  to  find  it,  but  the  remnant,  seek- 
ing it  by  faith  in  Christ,  found  themselves  chosen  of 
God  or  elected  to  it.  "The  Jew,  he  says,  fights 
against  himself.  Although  seeking  righteousness,  he 
does  not  choose  to  accept  it"  (Chrysostom).  If  he 
could  not  find  it  by  his  own  impossible  road  of  self- 
righteousness  and  self-sufiiciency,  he  would  have  none 
of  it,  though  the  apostle  showed  how  easily  it  might 
be  obtained  by  pointing  out  those  who  made  it  theirs 
by  receiving  it  as  a  free  gift  from  God  through  faith 
in  Christ.  But  for  those  despising  this  rich  gift,  God 
had  another  gift,  even  that  of  hardening,  which  means 
the  depriving  of  any  organ  of  its  natural  sensibility. 
The  calloused   finger  loses  the  seiise  of  touch;  the 


AN    ELECT   REMNANT   SAVED  451 

cataractous  eye  no  longer  sees  clearly ;  the  hardened 
mind  loses  its  discernment  between  things  good  and 
bad,  and  readily  believes  a  specious  lie  (2  Thess.  2: 
9-12)  ;  the  hardened  heart  becomes  obdurate  like  that 
of  Pharaoh's,  and  is  not  touched  or  softened  by  ap- 
peals to  pity,  mercy,  etc.  We  have  seen,  in  the  case 
of  Pharaoh,  that  the  hardness  was  the  joint  act  of 
God  and  Pharaoh.  The  same  is  shown  to  be  the  case 
of  the  Jews,  for  Paul  here  attributes  it  to  God,  while 
it  is  elsewhere  charged  against  the  Jews  themselves 
(Matt.  13:14,  15).  Of  course  God's  part  is  always 
merely  permissive,  and  Satan  is  the  active  agent. 
"God,"  says  Lard,  "never  yet  hardened  any  man  to 
keep  him  from  doing  right,  or  in  order  to  lead  him  to 
do  wrong.  He  is  not  the  author  of  sin.  He  may  per- 
mit other  agencies,  as  Satan  and  the  wickedness  of 
men,  to  harden  them,  but  he  himself  never  does  it"]  : 
8  according  as  it  is  written  [Isa.  29:  10;  Ezek.  12:2; 
Deut.  29:4],  God  gave  them  a  spirit  of  stupor,  eyes 
that  they  should  not  see,  and  ears  that  they  should  not 
hear,  unto  this  very  day.  [As  the  passage  quoted  is 
a  combination  of  Isaiah  and  Deuteronomy,  and  is 
found  in  part  also  in  Ezekiel,  it  suggests  that  the 
spirit  of  stupor,  deafness  and  blindness  characterized 
the  course  of  Israel  from  beginning  to  end  *  and  it  was 
therefore  to  be  guarded  against  as  a  chronic  sin. 
Katanuxis  (stupor)  may  be  derived  from  kataniissoo 
(Erifsche,  Meyer),  which  means  to  prick  or  sting,  and 
hence,  as  in  bites  of  reptiles,  etc.,  to  cause  stupefac- 
tion; or  it  may  come  from  katamizoo  (Volkmar), 
which  means  to  bend  the  head  in  order  to  sleep,  to 
fall  asleep.  It  is  used  in  Ps.  60 :  3,  where  it  is  trans- 
lated "wine  of  staggering,"  though  Hammond  con- 
tends that  the  passage  refers  to  the  stupefying  wine 
given  to  them  who  were  to  be  put  to  death.  It 
means,  then,  that  condition  of  stupor,  or  intellectual 
numbness,  which  is  almost  wholly  insensate;  for  the 
term  "spirit"  means  a  pervading  tendency.  "Such 
expressions,"  says  Gififord,  "as  'the  spirit  of  heaviness' 
(Isa.  61:3),  'a  spirit  of  meekness'  (1  Cor.  4:21),  'the 


452  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

spirit  of  bondage'  (Rom.  8:15),  show  that  'spirit' 
is  used  for  the  pervading  tendency  and  tone  of  mind, 
the  special  character  of  which  is  denoted  by  the  gen- 
itive which  follows."]  9  And  David  saith,  Let  their 
table  be  made  a  snare,  and  a  trap,  And  a  stumbling- 
block,  and  a  recompense  unto  them  [Ps.  69:22,  23. 
the  word  "trap"  is  added  from  Ps.  35 : 8.  Theodoret 
says  that  Psalm  69  "is  a  prediction  of  the  sufferings 
of  Christ,  and  the  final  destruction  of  the  Jews  on 
that  account."  That  which  is  presented  in  the  form 
of  a  wish  is,  therefore,  really  a  prophecy.  Let  the 
food  on  their  table  be  as  the  bait  to  the  snare  and  the 
trap,  and  the  stumbling-block  over  which  the  tempted 
creature  falls  to  lame  itself.  Let  that  which  they 
think  a  source  of  pleasure  and  life  become  an  entice- 
ment to  pain  and  death.  Dropping  the  figure,  the 
words  mean  that  the  very  religion  of  the  Old  Dispen- 
sation, to  which  the  Jew  looked  for  spiritual  joy  and 
sustenance,  should  become  to  him  a  sorrow  and  a 
fatal  famine,  so  that  this  very  blessing  became  to  him 
a  curse.  The  w^ord  "recompense"  denotes  a  punish- 
ment for  an  evil  deed ;  its  presence  here  shows  that 
the  evil  which  came  upon  the  Jews  was  caused  by 
their  own  fault  and  sin,  and  not  by  absolute  decree^  : 
10  Let  their  eyes  be  darkened,  that  they  may  not  see. 
And  bow  thou  down  their  back  always.]  This  verse 
is  usually  construed  to  picture  the  political  servitude 
and  spiritual  bondage  of  Israel  after  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem.  No  doubt  it  has  reference  to  conditions 
ushered  in  by  that  event,  but  it  pictures  the  dimness 
and  decrepitude  of  old  age — a  blind  eye,  and  a 
back  beyond  straightening.  The  Jews  were  to  par- 
take of  the  nature  of  the  old,  worn-out  dispensation 
to  which  they  clung  (Matt.  9:16,  17;  Heb.  8:13). 
God's  people  can  not  grow  old,  they  renew  their 
youth  like  the  eagle's  (Ps.  103:  5),  but  a  people  which 
ceases  to  be  his,  falls  into  decay.  J.  A.  Alexander's 
comment  on  Ps.  69  :  22  deserves  note.  He  says  :  "The 
imprecations  in  this  verse,  and  those  following  it, 
are  revolting  only  when  considered  as  the  expressions 


AN   ELECT  REMNANT  SAVED  453 

of  malignant  selfishness.  If  uttered  by  God,  they 
shock  no  reader's  sensibilities ;  nor  should  they  when 
considered  as  the  language  of  an  ideal  person,  repre- 
senting the  whole  class  of  righteous  sufferers,  and 
particularly  Him  who,  though  he  prayed  for  his  mur- 
derers while  dying  (Luke  23:34),  had  before  applied 
the  words  of  this  very  passage  to  the  unbelieving 
Jews  (Matt.  23:38),  as  Paul  did  afterward." 


IV. 

FOURTH     EXPLANATION    OF    THE     GRAND 
CONCLUSION— SALUTARY  RESULTS  OF 
THE    TEMPORAL    FALL   AND    FU- 
TURE RISE  OF  ISRAEL— GEN- 
TILES    WARNED     NOT 
TO   GLORY   OVER 
ISRAEL. 

11:11-24. 

11  I  say  then,  Did  they  stumble  that  they  might 
fall?  [Fall  (piptoo)  is  a  much  stronger  word  than 
stumble,  and  the  contrast  between  the  two  words 
makes  the  former  emphatic.  To  fall  means  to  be 
killed,  and  is  in  Greek,  as  in  English,  applied  to  those 
slain  in  battle.  (Homer,  II.  8:475;  11:84.)  As  em- 
phasized, then,  it  means  to  become  "utterly  irrevoca- 
ble" (Clark)  ;  'irrevocable  ruin,  in  opposition  to  that 
which  is  temporary"  (Hodge)  ;  "to  fall  forever,  finally" 
(Pool)  ;  "perish  forever"  (Meyer)  ;  "so  as  utterly  to 
fall"  (Stuart).  Paul  is  arguing  as  to  God's  intention. 
Therefore,  according  to  his  established  custom,  he 
asks  a  question  that  he  may  guard  against  a  false 
conclusion,  and  the  form  of  the  question,  as  usual, 
demands  a  negative  answer,  for  the  false  conclusion 
is  to  be  denied.  From  the  foreseen  "stumbling"  of 
Israel  (Hom.  9:33;  11:9),  and  from  the  "hardening" 
(v.    7),    it    might    be    concluded    that    God    sent    a 


454  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

stumbling-block  Saviour,  a  Messiah  in  an  unwelcome 
form,  and  an  unpalatable  gospel-salvation  with  the 
intent  and  purpose  of  working  Israel's  downfall  and 
ruin — his  final,  irrevocable  fall.  Did  God  bring  about 
or  cause  a  stumbling  of  the  Jews  of  Christ's  day,  that 
all  future  generations  might  fall,  or  be  cast  off  for- 
ever? Such  is  the  question,  and  the  answer  is]  God 
forbid  [This  general  denial  is  followed  by  a  threefold 
explanation:  (1)  The  fall  of  Israel  was  permitted  be- 
cause spiritually  profitable  to  the  Gentiles  (11)  ;  (2) 
the  rising  again  of  Israel  will  be  for  the  greater  spiritual 
profit  to  the  Gentiles  (12-15);  (3)  the  fall  of  Israel 
is  only  temporary — they  shall  rise  again — 26]  : 
but  [introducing  the  real  purpose  or  design  of  Is- 
rael's fall]  by  their  fall  [paraptoma,  from  the  verb 
parapiptoo,  which  means  to  sideslip,  to  fall  away,  to 
fall.  Hence  paraptoma  means  fall,  trespass  (Alford), 
lapse  (Stuart),  slip  (Green),  false  step  (Godet),  of- 
fence (Gifford),  fault,  sin.  It  is  best  translated  here 
by  the  word  "offence"]  salvation  is  come  unto  the 
Gentiles,  to  provoke  them  to  jealousy.  [Emulation  is 
a  better  translation  than  jealousy.  Their  offence  was 
their  unbelief,  which  caused  God  to  put  them  away, 
and  this  putting  away  greatly  facilitated  the  success 
of  the  gospel  among  the  Gentiles.  So  great  was  the 
pride  and  exclusiveness  of  the  Jcavs,  and  such  was 
their  blind  loyalty  to  their  race,  ritual,  temple,  law, 
etc.,  that  even  the  most  thoroughly  converted  and  in- 
doctrinated Christians  among  them,  such  as  the  very 
apostles  themselves  (Paul  alone  excepted),  never 
manifested  any  enthusiasm  in  preaching  the  gospel 
to  the  Gentiles.  It  took  a  miracle  to  constrain  Peter 
to  do  such  a  thing  (Acts  10),  and,  after  having  done 
so,  his  Christian  brethren  demanded  an  explanation 
and  apology  for  his  intercourse  with  Gentiles  (Acts 
11).  and  later,  instead  of  yielding  to  his  apostolic 
leadership,  they  were  so  stubborn  in  their  aversion 
to  the  free  admission  of  Gentiles  into  the  church, 
that  the  fear  of  them  triumphed  and  caused  Peter  to 
conform    to    their   views    (Gal.    2:11-14;    for    further 


SALUTARY   RESULTS  455 

evidence  of  their  bigotry,  see  Acts  15:  1,  2 ;  21 :  17-24). 
Their  opposition  to  Paul  only  ceased  with  his  life. 
With  such  a  spirit  among  Jewish  Christians,  two 
things  were  sure  to  happen  if  they  retained  their  pre- 
eminence in  the  church,  and  continued  to  dominate 
its  policy.  (1)  There  would  be  but  little  preaching 
supplied  to  the  Gentiles,  since  pride  and  enmity  made 
the  Jews  unwilling  to  serve  them  (1  Thess.  2:  15,  16)  ; 
(2)  such  gospel  as  was  preached  to  the  Gentiles  would 
be  woefully  corrupted  and  perverted  by  Judaistic 
teaching  and  practice  (Gal.  1:6-9;  3:1-3;  6:12-14), 
for  "Israel,"  as  Lange  observes,  "did  not  desire  the 
Gentiles,  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  to 
participate  in  the  Messianic  salvation,  except  as  pros- 
elytes of  the  Jews,"  since  they  took  more  pride  and  joy 
in  converting  men  to  Moses  than  in  winning  them  to 
Christ.  Thus  by  their  zeal  for  the  law  they  would 
imperil  the  Gentiles'  liberty  in  Christ  (Gal.  4:9, 
21-5:1),  so  that  Christianity  could  scarce  escape  be- 
coming merely  a  new  patch  on  an  old  garment,  even 
as  the  Master  forewarned  (Matt.  9:16),  in  which 
secondary  capacity  it  could  never  so  save  the  Gentile 
as  to  convert  the  world.  Hence  to  save  the  wine 
Jesus  cast  aside  the  old  Jewish  bottle,  and  stored  the 
gracious  gospel  fluid  in  the  new  Gentile  wine-skin 
(Matt.  9:17).  And  he  not  only  cast  off  the  Jewish 
people  as  unworthy  of  that  pre-eminence  in  the  church 
which  was  naturally  theirs,  but  he  even  stood  aside 
the  eleven  apostles  as  too  hopelessly  narrow-minded 
for  Gentile  evangelism,  and  committed  the  whole  of 
this  colossal  ministry  to  the  one  man,  Paul  (Acts 
9:15;  22:21;  26:17,  18;  Rom.  1:5;  11:13;  15:16; 
Gal.  1:15,  16;  Eph.  3:7,  8;  1  Tim.  2:7;  2  Tim. 
1:11;  especially  Gal.  2:7-9).  And  even  in  his  case 
we  note  how  the  prompt  "offence,"  or  unbelief,  of 
the  Jews  enabled  him  to  preach  "^to  the  Jew  first," 
yet  speedily  left  him  free  and  unfettered  to  push  the 
work  among  the  Gentiles  (Acts  13:45-48;  28:28). 
So  the  "ofifence"  and  consequent  casting  off  of  Israel 
did  facilitate  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles.     Israel, 


456  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

as  a  reluctant,  sluggish,  half-converted  hindrance,  was 
thrust  from  the  doorway,  that  the  Gentiles  might 
enter  freely  and  fully  into  the  kingdom  (Luke  11 :  52; 
Matt.  23:13).  Salvation  of  the  Gentiles  was  the 
proximate  purpose  accomplished,  and  still  being  ac- 
complished, by  the  rejection  of  the  Jews:  the  salva- 
tion of  the  Jews  themselves  was  the  remote  purpose 
of  the  rejection,  and  it  is  largely  future,  even  yet.  It 
is  to  be  brought  about  by  a  spirit  of  emulation.  "See- 
ing," says  Godet,  "all  the  blessings  of  the  kingdom, 
pardon,  justification,  the  Holy  Spirit,  adoption,  shed 
down  abundantl}^  on  the  Gentile  nations  through  faith 
in  Him  whom  they  had  rejected,  how  can  they  help 
saying  at  length:  These  things  are  ours?  And  how 
can  they  help  opening  their  eyes  and  recognizing  that 
Jesus  is  the  Messiah,  since  in  him  the  works  predicted 
of  the  Messiah  are  accomplished?  How  shall  the 
elder  son,  seeing  his  younger  brother  seated  and 
celebrating  the  feast  at  his  father's  table,  fail  to  ask 
that  he  may  re-enter  the  paternal  home  and  come  to 
sit  down  side  by  side  with  his  brother,  after  throwing 
himself  into  the  arms  of  the  common  father?"  A 
blessed  result  indeed,  but  long  delayed  by  the  carnal, 
half-converted  state  of  the  Gentile  church,  as  wit- 
nessed by  the  Roman  Catholicism  which  is  Sardis 
(Rev.  3:1)  and  Protestantism  which  is  sectarianism 
(1  Cor.  3:1-5),  a  Philadelphia  church  lapsing  into 
Laodicean  indifference — Rev,  3:14-19.]  12  Now  if 
their  fall  [paraptoma]  is  the  riches  of  the  world,  and 
their  loss  [hettema,  that  loss  or  diminution  which  an 
army  suffers  by  defeat,  also  moral  loss,  impoverish- 
ment, to  be  defeated,  to  be  reduced,  or  made  inferior. 
"A  reduction  in  one  aspect  to  a  race  of  scattered  ex- 
iles, in  another  to  a  mere  remnant  of  'Israelites  in- 
deed'" — Moule]  the  riches  of  the  Gentiles;  how  much 
more  their  fulness?  [Pleroma,  the  full  number,  the 
whole  body,  the  totality.  To  emphasize  the  situation 
and  impress  it  upon  his  readers,  Paul  makes  use  of 
the  Hebrew  parallelism,  presenting  two  clauses  which 
express  substantially  the  same  thing.     If  there  be  any 


SALUTARY   RESULTS  4S7 

difference,  we  would  say  that  ''world"  indicates  sin- 
ners, and  ''Gentiles"  the  uncovenanted  races.  If 
paraphrased  thus,  it  would  read.  Now,  if  the  sin  or 
offence  of  godly  Israel  enriched  the  ungodly,  sinful 
world,  and  if  the  loss  or  spiritual  impoverishment  and 
numerical  diminution  of  the  covenanted  people  en- 
riched and  multiplied  the  covenanted  among  the 
hitherto  uncovenanted  people,  how  much  more  would 
both  the  sinful  world  and  its  uncovenanted  inhabit- 
ants have  been  blessed  every  way,  had  Israel  been  of 
the  right  spirit,  so  as  to  have  received  enrichment 
instead  of  being  cast  off  and  diminished.  Because 
Israel  had  a  proud,  narrow,  inimical  spirit  (1  Thess. 
2:  15,  16),  its  depletion  worked  blessing  to  the  world 
and  the  Gentiles;  but  if  Israel  had  yielded  to  Christ 
so  as  to  be  transformed  like  that  persecuting  Saul 
who  became  Paul,  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  who  can 
measure  the  fullness  of  blessing  which  would  have 
come  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  by  the  enlarge- 
ment, enrichment  and  full  spiritual  endowment  of 
every  son  of  Abraham  dispersed  through  the  world ! 
With  millions  of  Pauls  in  all  lands  throughout  all 
generations,  we  should  have  measured  our  heaven- 
ward progress  by  milestones  instead  of  inches.  "Good- 
ness," says  Thomas  Aquinas,  "is  more  capable  of  bear- 
ing blessing  than  is  evil ;  but  the  evil  of  the  Jews 
brought  great  blessing  to  the  Gentiles ;  therefore  much 
more  should  their  goodness  bring  greater  blessing  to 
the  world."]  13  But  [A  note  of  correction.  At  Rom. 
7:1,  4  Paul  began  to  address  the  Jews,  and  all  that 
he  has  said  since  then  has  had  specific  reference  to 
that  people.  Since  verse  11,  however,  the  thought 
has  gradually  passed  to  the  Gentiles  and  now  Paul 
openly  notes  that  he  is  speaking  to  them,  lest  any 
should  think  he  was  still  speaking  to  Jews  about 
Jews]  I  speak  to  you  that  are  Gentiles.  [Much  that 
the  apostle  has  said  might  be  misconstrued  by  the 
Gentiles  so  as  to  minister  to  their  pride.  The  apos- 
tle therefore  addresses  them  personally,  and  prepares 
the  way  for  an  admonition  against  vainglory  in  them- 


458  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

selves  and  a  contemptuous  spirit  against  the  Jews.] 
Inasmuch  then  as  I  am  an  apostle  of  Gentiles,  I 
glorify  my  ministry;  14  if  by  any  means  I  may  pro- 
voke to  jealousy  them  that  are  my  flesh  [my  kindred : 
the  Jews],  and  may  save  [do  the  human  part  of  sav- 
ing] some  of  them.  [Finding  myself  set  apart  by 
Christ  to  minister  to  Gentiles  instead  of  Jews,  I  per- 
form my  task  with  a  double  zest,  for  (I  not  only  re- 
joice to  save  Gentiles,  but)  it  is  a  means  (also)  of 
saving  some  of  Israel  by  provoking  them  to  an  honor- 
able and  generous  emulation  even  now ;  since  the 
mass  of  them  will  be  won  that  way  in  the  end,  as 
indicated  above.  And,  moreover,  I  do  this  in  fullest 
love  and  goodwill  to  you  Gentiles,  for  I  foresee  what 
incalculable  blessings  the  conversion  of  the  Jews  will 
bring  to  you.]  15  For  if  the  casting  away  of  them  is 
the  reconciling  of  the  world,  what  shall  the  receiving 
of  them  be,  but  life  from  the  dead?  [Again  we 
have  a  passage  wherein  "the  apostle,"  as  Meyer  ex- 
presses it,  "argues  from  the  happy  effect  of  the  worse 
cause,  to  the  happier  efifect  of  the  better  cause."  If 
a  curse,  so  to  speak,  brought  a  blessing,  what  would 
not  a  blessing  bring?  If  the  casting  away  of  Israel 
in  Paul's  day  resulted  in  the  beginning  of  the  times 
of  the  Gentiles,  and  the  turning  of  them  from  idols 
and  imaginary  deities  to  seek  after  the  true  God  as 
part  of  a  theocratic  family  wherein  converted  Jew  and 
Gentile  are  reconciled  to  each  other  and  to  God  (see 
Eph.  2:  11-22  for  a  full  description  of  this  double  rec- 
onciliation), what  would  the  receiving  again  of  the 
vast  body  of  unconverted  Jews  at  the  end  of  the 
times  of  the  Gentiles  (vs.  25,  26)  be  but  a  veritable 
life  from  the  dead,  an  unprecedented,  semi-miraculous 
revival?  Theophylact,  Augustine,  Melanchthon,  Cal- 
vin, Beza,  Bucer,  Turretin,  Philippi,  Bengel,  Auber- 
len,  Clark,  Macknight,  Plumer,  Brown,  Lard, 
Gifford,  Moule,  Riddle,  etc.,  view  this  as  a  great 
spiritual  resurrection,  a  revival  of  grace  accompany- 
ing the  conversion  of  the  whole  world.  Others,  as 
Origen,  Chrysostom,  the  earlier  commentators  gener- 


SALUTARY    RESULTS  459 

ally,  Ruckert,  Meyer,  De  Wette,  etc.,  look*  upon  it  as 
a  literal,  bodily  resurrection,  while  Olshausen,  Lange 
and  Alford  consider  it  as  a  combination  of  spiritual 
and  bodily  resurrections.  The  first  of  these  positions 
is  most  tenable.  ''This,"  says  Barnes,  "is  an  instance 
of  the  peculiar,  glowing  and  vigorous  manner  of  the 
apostle  Paul.  His  mind  catches  at  the  thought  of 
what  may  he  produced  by  the  recovery  of  the  Jews, 
and  no  ordinary  language  would  convey  his  idea.  He 
had  already  exhausted  the  usual  forms  of  speech  by 
saying  that  even  their  rejection  had  reconciled  the 
world,  and  that  it  was  the  riches  of  the  Gentiles.  To 
say  that  their  recovery — a  striking  and  momentous 
event;  an  event  so  much  better  fitted  to  produce  im- 
portant results — would  be  attended  by  the  conversion 
of  the  world,  would  be  insipid  and  tame.  He  uses, 
therefore,  a  most  bold  and  striking  figure.  The  resur- 
rection of  the  dead  was  an  image  of  the  most  vast 
and  wonderful  event  that  could  take  place."  Some  of 
those  who  view  this  as  a  literal  resurrection,  do  so 
from  a  lack  of  clear  conception  as  to  the  order  of  the 
dispensations.  They  look  upon  the  conversion  of  the 
Jews  as  taking  place  at  the  very  end  of  the  world, 
and  hence  synchronous  with  the  final  resurrection. 
They  do  not  know  that  the  Jewish  dispensation,  or 
age,  gave  place  to  the  present  one,  which  is  called 
"the  times  of  the  Gentiles"  (Luke  21:24),  and  that 
this  dispensation  will  give  place  to  a  third,  known  as 
the  millennium  or  age  of  a  thousand  years  (Rev.  20: 
1-6).  The  Jewish  dispensation  ended  with  the  death 
of  Christ,  and  the  Gentile  dispensation  will  end  when 
the  gospel  is  preached  unto  all  nations  (Matt.  24:  14). 
Its  end,  as  Paul  shows  us  at  verses  25  and  26,  will 
also  be  synchronous  with  the  conversion  of  the  Jews. 
Failure  to  grasp  these  important  facts  has  led  to 
much  general  confusion,  and  to  gross  mistakes  in  the 
interpretation  and  application  of  prophecies,  for  many 
Biblical  references  to  the  end  of  the  Gentile  dispen- 
sation, or  age,  have  been  erroneously  referred  to  the 
end  of  the  world,  or  end  of  the  ages.     The  last  age, 


460  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

or  millennium,  will  be  the  triumph  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  the  thousand-year  reign  of  the  saints  on  earth, 
and  it  will  begin  with  the  conversion  of  the  world 
under  the  leadership  of  the  Jews,  and  this  is  the  event 
which  Paul  fittingly  describes  as  "life  from  the  dead.*' 
The  millennium  will  be  as  a  resurrection  to  the  Jews 
(Ezek.  37),  for  they  will  return  to  their  own  land 
(Ezek.  37:  11-14,  21, '25)  and  revive  their  national  life 
as  a  united  people  (Ezek.  37:22).  It  will  be  as  a 
resurrection  of  primitive,  apostolic  Christianity  to  the 
Gentiles,  for  the  deadness  of  the  ''last  days"  of  their 
dispensation  (2  Tim.  3:  1-9;  4:3,  4),  with  its  Catholic 
Sardis  and  its  Protestant  Laodicea  (Rev.  3:1-6,  14- 
22),  will  give  place  to  the  new  life  of  the  new  age, 
wherein  the  "first  love"  of  the  Ephesian,  or  first, 
church  will  be  revived  (Rev.  2:4,  5),  and  the  martyr 
spirit  of  Smyrna,  its  successor,  will  again  come  forth 
(Rev.  2:10),  and  the  devil  will  be  chained  and  the 
saints  will  reign  (Rev.  20:1-6).  This  spiritual  resur- 
rection of  the  last  age  is  called  the  "first  resurrec- 
tion," for  it  is  like,  and  it  is  followed  by,  the  real 
or  literal  resurrection  which  winds  it  up,  and  begins 
the  heavenly  age,  or  eternity  with  God.  Ezekiel  tells 
what  the  last  age  will  do  to  the  Jews,  Paul  what  it 
will  be  to  the  Gentiles,  and  John  what  it  will  mean  to 
them  both.  As  to  Paul's  description  Pool  thus  writes : 
"The  conversion  of  the  Jewish  people  and  nation  will 
strengthen  the  things  that  are  languishing  and  like  to 
die  in  the  Christian  church.  It  will  confirm  the  faith 
of  the  Gentiles,  and  reconcile  their  differences  in 
religion,  and  occasion  a  more  thorough  reformation 
amongst  them :  there  will  be  a  much  more  happy  and 
flourishing  estate  of  the  church,  even  such  as  shall  be 
in  the  end  of  the  world,  at  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead."  All  this,  as  Paul  boldly  asserts,  will  result 
from  the  blessed  power  of  Jewish  leadership,  as  in 
the  beginning.  "The  light,"  says  Godet,  "which  con- 
verted Jews  bring  to  the  church,  and  the  power  of 
life  which  they  have  sometimes  awakened  in  it,  are 
the  pledge  of  that  spiritual  renovation  which  will  be 


SALUTARY   RESULTS  461 

produced  in  Gentile  Christendom  by  their  entrance 
en  masse.  Do  we  not  feel  that  in  our  present  condi- 
tion there  is  something',  and  that  much,  wanting  to  us 
that  the  promises  of  the  gospel  may  be  realized  in  all 
their  fullness ;  that  there  is,  as  it  were,  a  mysterious 
hindrance  to  the  efficacy  of  preaching,  a  debility  in- 
herent in  our  spiritual  life,  a  lack  of  joy  and  force 
which  contrasts  strangely  with  the  joyful  outbursts 
of  prophets  and  psalmists ;  that,  in  fine,  the  feast  in 
the  father's  house  is  not  complete  .  .  .  why?  be- 
cause it  can  not  be  so,  so  long  as  the  family  is  not 
entirely  reconstituted  by  the  return  of  the  elder  son. 
Then  shall  come  the  Pentecost  of  the  last  times,  the 
latter  rain."  Against  the  above  view  that  Paul  speaks 
of  a  spiritual  resurrection  it  is  weakly  urged  that  it 
assumes  a  future  falling  away  of  the  Gentiles,  and  a 
lapse  on  their  part  into  spiritual  death,  and  that 
the  apostle  gives  no  intimation  of  such  a  declension 
by  them.  But  it  is  right  to  assume  such  a  declension, 
for  Paul  most  clearly  intimates  it;  for  (1)  all  the  re- 
mainder of  this  section  is  a  discussion  of  how  the 
Jews  brought  their  dispensation  to  an  end,  and  a 
warning  to  the  Gentiles  not  to  follow  their  example 
and  have  their  dispensation  end  in  a  like  manner. 
(2)  In  verse  25  he  speaks  of  the  fullness  or  complete- 
ness of  the  Gentiles.  But,  according  to  the  divine 
method,  this  dispensation  of  the  Gentiles  could  not 
reach  completeness  and  be  done  away  with  until  it 
became  corrupt  and  worthless.  God  does  not  cast  ofif 
till  iniquity  is  full  and  failure  complete  (Gen.  6:13; 
15:16;  Matt.  23:29-33).  Moreover,  some  five  years 
before  this,  in  the  second  Epistle  that  ever  came  from 
his  pen,  Paul  had  foretold  this  declension  in  the 
church,  and  had  described  it  as  even  then  "working," 
though  restrained  (2  Thess.  2:3-12).  The  assump- 
tion on  which  this  view  of  a  spiritual  resurrection 
rests  is  both  contextual  and  natural.  Finally,  as  to 
this  being  a  literal  body  resurrection,  we  must  of 
course  admit  that  an  all-powerful  God  can  begin  the 
millennium   that   way   if  he   chooses,  but  to   suppose 


462  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

that  the  literally  resurrected  dead  shall  mingle  and 
dwell  with  the  rest  of  humanity  for  a  thousand  years, 
or  throughout  an  entire  dispensation,  savors  of  fanati- 
cism. Even  Jesus  kept  aloof  during  his  forty  days 
of  waiting  before  his  ascension.  A  healthy  mind  can 
not  long  retain  such  an  idea,  nor  can  we  think  that 
Paul  would  introduce  so  marvelous  and  abnormal  a 
social  condition  without  in  some  measure  elaborating 
it.  As  against  a  literal,  physical  resurrection  Hodge 
argues  strongly.  We  give  a  sentence  or  two :  "Not 
only  in  Scriptures,  but  also  in  profane  literature,  the 
transition  from  a  state  of  depression  and  misery,  to 
one  of  prosperity,  is  expressed  by  the  natural  figure 
of  passing  from  death  to  life.  The  Old  Testament 
prophets  represented  the  glorious  condition  of  the 
Theocracy,  consequent  on  the  coming  of  Christ,  in 
contrast  with  its  previous  condition,  as  a  rising  from 
the  dead.  .  .  .  Nowhere  else  in  Scripture  is  the 
literal  resurrection  expressed  by  the  words  'life  from 
the  dead.'  Had  Paul  intended  a  reference  to  the 
resurrection,  no  reason  can  be  assigned  why  he  did 
not  employ  the  established  and  familiar  words  'resur- 
rection from  the  dead.'  If  he  meant  the  resurrection, 
why  did  he  not  say  so?  Why  use  a  general  phrase, 
which  is  elsewhere  used  to  express  another  idea? 
Besides  this,  it  is  not  according  to  the  analogy  of 
Scripture,  that  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  the 
change  of  those  who  shall  then  be  alive  (1  Cor.  15: 
51;  1  Thess.  4:14-18),  are  to  be  immediate,  conse- 
quent on  the  conversion  of  the  Jews.  The  resurrec- 
tion is  not  to  occur  until  'the  end.'  A  new  state  of 
things,  a  new  mode  of  existence,  is  to  be  then  intro- 
duced. Flesh  and  blood — i.  e.,  our  bodies  as  now 
organized — can  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God." 
For  a  full  discussion  of  the  spiritual  nature  of  the 
resurrection,  from  the  pen  of  A.  Campbell,  see  his 
articles  on  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord,  in  the 
Millennial  Harbinger.  We  shall  never  know  how  dead 
our  liquor-licensing,  sectarian,  wealth-worshiping, 
stock-gambling,      religio-fad-loving,      political,      war- 


SALUTARY   RESULTS  463 

waging^  Christendom  has  been  until  the  spirit  of  the 
early  church  rises  from  the  dead  to  form  the  new 
age ;  then  it  will  be  at  once  apparent  to  all  what 
Paul  meant  by  this  bold  figure,  ''life  from  the  dead." 
But  the  glorious  prospect  here  presented  rests  on  the 
supposition  that  the  Jews  en  masse  shall  be  con- 
verted. As  that  is  a  supposition  which  many  ex- 
positors even  in  our  day  regard  with  doubt,  the 
apostle  first  shows  its  Scriptural  and  natural  reason- 
ableness, and  then  plainly  and  unequivocally  predicts 
it.  He  presents  its  reasonableness  thus]  16  And  if  the 
firstfruit  is  holy,  so  is  the  lump:  and  if  the  root  is 
holy,  so  are  the  branches.  [Another  parallelism.  The 
apostle  demonstrates  the  same  truth,  first,  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  law  of  God  in  the  Bible  (firstfruit 
and  lump)  ;  second,  from  the  law  of  God  in  nature 
(root  and  tree).  As  the  harvest  or  raw  m.aterial  of 
the  Jew  was  regarded  as  unclean,  or  ceremonially  un- 
holy, and  not  to  be  eaten  till  it  was  cleansed  by  the 
waving  of  a  first-portion,  or  firstfruit,  of  it  as  a 
heave-offering  before  the  Lord  (Lev.  23:9-14;  Ex. 
34 :  26)  ;  so  the  meal  or  prepared  material  was  like- 
wise prescribed  until  a  portion  of  the  first  dough  was 
offered  as  a  heave-offering.  This  offered  "firstfruit," 
or,  better,  "first-portion"  (aparche),  made  the  whole 
lump  (phitrama)  from  which  it  was  taken  holy,  and 
thus  sanctified  all  the  future  meal,  of  which  it  was  the 
representative  or  symbol,  so  that  it  could  now  be 
used  by  the  owner  (Num.  15:19-21;  Neh.  10:37). 
The  apostle,  then,  means  that  as  the  patriarchs, 
Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  (called  fathers  in  verse  28), 
the  firstfruit  by  the  revealed  law,  and  the  root  by 
the  natural  law,  were  holy,  so  all  their  descendants 
as  lump  and  tree  were  likewise  holy.  But  holiness 
has  two  distinct  meanings:  (1)  Purity,  moral  and 
spiritual  perfection,  absolute  righteousness — a  holi- 
ness unto  salvation ;  (2)  that  which  is  consecrated  or 
set  apart  for  divme  use — a  holiness  short  of  salva- 
tion. The  second  meaning  is  the  one  intended  here. 
The  Jews,  being  out  of  Christ,  are  certainly  not  holy 


464  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

or  righteous  unto  salvation,  Paul  being  witness;  but 
they  have  what  Gifford  styles  "this  legal  and  relative 
holiness  of  that  which  has  been  consecrated  to 
God."  In  this  respect  they  are  still  "the  holy  people" 
(Dan.  12:7),  "the  chosen  people"  (Dan.  11:15),  pre- 
served from  fusion  with  the  Gentiles,  and  ultimately 
to  be  restored  to  their  original  pre-eminence  as 
leaders  in  the  worship  of  Jehovah.  In  short,  then, 
there  is  no  divinely  erected  barrier  rendering  them 
irrevocably  unholy,  and  preventing  their  conversion. 
On  the  contrary,  they  are  pre-eminently  susceptible 
to  conversion  both  b}^  law  divine  and  natural,  and 
onl}^  their  persistent  unbelief  prevents  their  Christian- 
ization.]  17  But  if  some  of  the  branches  were  broken 
off,  and  thou  [O  Gentile  believer],  being  a  wild 
olive,  wast  grafted  in  among  them,  and  didst  become 
partaker  with  them  of  the  root  of  the  fatness  of  the 
olive  tree  [Some  commentators,  recognizing  that 
Christianity  is  a  distinct  thing  from  Judaism,  have 
been  unduly  frightened  at  the  manner  in  which  the 
apostle  here  blends  them  as  one  tree.  This  has  led 
them  to  forsake  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  apostle's 
words,  in  an  endeavor  to  contort  them  so  as  to  keep 
distinct  the  Christian  and  Jewish  bodies.  Some  of 
these,  therefore,  regard  Christ  as  the  tree,  and  others 
regard  it  as  representing  the  Christian  church.  But 
such  exegesis  violates  the  text,  for  the  Jewish  un- 
believers are  pictured  as  branches  "broken  off."  Now, 
they  could  neither  be  broken  off  from  Christ  nor 
the  church,  for  they  were  never  joined  to  either. 
The  tree  is  the  Theocracy  (Jer.  11:16;  Hos.  14:6; 
Ezek.  17:3;  Zech  11:2).  In  a  sense  it  is  one  con- 
tinuous tree,  for  it  bears  to  God  the  continuous  rela- 
tion of  being  his  peculiar  people,  but  in'  another 
sense  it  is,  as  the  apostle  here  presents  it,  an  entirely 
different  tree,  for  all  the  branches  which  were  for- 
merly accepted  on  the  basis  of  natural  Abrahamic 
descent  were  broken  off,  and  all  the  branches,  whether 
Jew  or  Gentile,  which  had  the  new  requirement  of 
faith   in   Christ,   were   grafted   in.      Surely,   then,   thr 


SALUTARY   RESULTS  465 

tree  is  distinct  enough  as  presented  in  its  two  con- 
ditions. Yet  is  it  the  same  Theocracy,  with  the  same 
patriarchal  root  and  developed  from  the  same  basic 
covenants  and  promises  (Heb.  11:39,  40;  Eph.  2: 
11-22).  Christianity  is  not  Judaism,  and  no  pen 
ever  taught  this  truth  more  clearly  than  Paul's.  Yet 
Christianity  is  a  development  of  the  old  Theocracy, 
and  is  still  a  Theocracy,  a  kingdom  of  God,  and  this 
is  plainly  taught ;  for  the  Christian,  be  he  Jew  or 
Gentile,  is  still  a  spiritual  son  of-  Abraham  (Rom. 
4:16;  Gal.  3:7,  29;  4:28),  a  member  of  the  true 
Israel ;  the  true  Jew.  Now,  the  Christian  Jew,  having 
already  an  organic  connection  with  the  Theocracy,  is 
viewed  by  Paul  as  simply  remaining  in  it.  And  here  is 
the  point  where  the  confusion  arises.  If  he  became 
regenerate  (John  3:1-6),  and,  dropping  the  carnal 
tie  of  the  old,  received  the  spiritual  tie  of  the  new 
(John  8:37-44),  he  indeed  remained  in  the  theocratic 
tree,  but  in  it  as  transformed  at  Pentecost.  If  the  Jew 
did  not  undergo  this  change,  he  was  broken  off  and 
cast  aside  (Matt.  8:11,  12).  Thus  the  apostle  makes 
it  clear  that  the  Jew,  as  a  Jew,  and  without  spiritual 
change  through  faith  in  Christ,  did  not  remain  in  any 
divinely  accepted  Theocracy.  But  as  God  originally 
contemplated  the  tree,  every  Jew  was  to  develop  into 
a  Christian,  in  which  case  the  tree  would  have  been 
indeed  continuous.  Jewish  unbelief  frustrated  the 
divine  harmony  and  made  it  necessary  for  the  apostle 
himself  to  here  and  elsewhere  emphasize  the  differ- 
ence between  the  old  and  new  Theocracies.  *'The 
Gentiles  are  called  a  wild  olive  because  God  had 
not  cultivated  them  as  he  did  the  Jews,  who,  on  that 
account,  are  called  (v.  24)  the  good  or  garden 
olives.  .  .  .  The  juice  of  the  olive  is  called  'fatness,' 
because  from  its  fruit,  which  is  formed  by  that  juice, 
oil  is  .  expressed"  (Macknight).  "The  oleaster,  or 
wild  olive,"  says  Parens,  "has  the  same  form  as  the 
olive,  but  lacks  its  generous  sap  and  fruits."]  ;  18 
glory  not  over  the  branches:  but  if  thou  gloriest 
[remember],  it  is  not  thou  that  bearest  the  root,  but 


466  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

the  root  thee.  [Pride  goeth  before  destruction,  and 
a  haughty  spirit  before  a  fall"  (Prov.  16:  18).  Relig- 
ious pride  had  proved  the  undoing  of  the  Jews.  It 
made  them  despise  and  reject  an  unregal  Messiah; 
it  caused  them  to  spurn  a  gospel  preached  to  the 
poor;  it  moved  them  to  reject  a  salvation  in  which 
the  unclean  Gentile  might  freely  share.  As  Paul 
opens  before  his  Gentile  readers  the  high  estate  into 
which  they  had  come,  he  anticipates  the  religious 
pride  which  the  contemplation  of  their  good  fortune 
was  so  soon  to  beget  in  them,  hence  he  at  once 
sounds  the  timely  note  of  warning.  As  to  the  Jew 
they  had  no  reason  to  boast,  for  they  were  debtor 
to  him,  not  he  to  them,  ior  "salvation  is  from  the 
Jew"  (John  4:22).  As  to  themselves  they  could 
not  speak  proudly,  for  the  depression  of  the  Jew  was 
due  to  God's  severity,  and  the  exaltation  of  the  Gen- 
tile was  due  to  his  goodness.  The  Gentile  church 
was  incorporated  into  a  previously  existing  Jewish 
church,  and  their  new  Theocracy  had  its  root  in  the 
old,  so  that  in  neither  case  were  these  privileges 
original,  but  wholly  secondary  and  derived  from  the 
Jews.  Moreover,  "such  presumption  toward  the 
branches,"  says  Tholuck,  "could  not  be  without  pre- 
sumption toward  the  root."  Would  that  the  Gentiles, 
who  to-day  boast  of  their  Christianity  and  despise 
the  Jew  from  whence  it  was  derived,  could  compre- 
hend the  folly  of  their  course.  How  great  is  the  sin 
of  Christendom !  "In  its  pride,"  says  Godet,  "it 
tramples  underfoot  the  very  nation  of  that  grace 
which  has  made  it  what  it  is.  It  moves  on,  therefore, 
to  a  judgment  of  rejection  like  that  of  Israel,  but 
which  shall  not  have  to  soften  it  a  promise  [of  final 
restoration]  like  that  which  accompanied  the  fall  of 
the  Jews."]  19  Thou  wilt  say  then,  Branches  were 
broken  off,  that  I  might  be  grafted  in.  [The  apostle 
here  puts  in  the  mouth  of  a  representative  Gentile 
the  cause  or  justification  of  the  pride.  Was  it  not 
ground  for  self-esteem  and  self-gratulation  when  God 
cast  off  his  covenanted  people  to  receive  strangers? 


SALUTARY  RESULTS  467 

— Eph.  2: 19.]  20  Well  [A  form  of  partial  and  often 
ironical  assent:  equal  to,  very  true,  grant  it,  etc.  It 
was  not  strictly  true  that  God  had  cast  off  the  Jew 
to  make  room  for  the  Gentile,  for  there  was  room 
for  both.  The  marriage  supper  shows  the  truth  very 
clearly.  The  refusal  of  the  Jew  was  the  reason  why 
he  was  cast  off,  not  because  there  was  lack  of  room, 
or  partial  favor  on  God's  part,  or  superior  merit  on 
the  part  of  the  Gentiles— Luke  14:15-24];  by  their 
unbelief  they  were  broken  off,  and  thou  standest  by 
thy  faith  [not  merit].  Be  not  highminded,  but  fear: 
21  for  if  God  spared  not  the  natural  branches,  neither 
will  he  spare  thee.  [Faith  justified  no  boast,  yet 
faith  constituted  the  only  divinely  recognized  distinc- 
tion in  the  Gentiles'  favor,  in  estimating  between  the 
Gentile  Christian  and  the  cast-off  Jew.  All  the  past 
history  of  the  Jew  stood  in  his  favor ;  therefore  the 
Gentile  has  vastly  more  reason  to  fear  than  had  the 
Jew;  for  if  natural  branches  fell  through  false  pride 
which  induced  unbelief,  how  much  more  likely  the 
adopted  branches  were  to  be  cut  off.  Again,  he  had 
more  reason  for  fear  than  for  pride;  for  being  on 
trial  as  the  Jews  had  been,  he  was  succumbing  to  the 
same  sin  of  self-righteous  pride,  and  more  liable  to 
suffer  the  same  rejection.  Paul  now  presents  the 
even-balanced  equality  of  Jew  and  Gentile  if  weighed 
in  the  scales  of  merit  instead  of  the  new  scales  of 
grace-toward- faith.]  22  Behold  then  the  goodness 
and  severity  of  God:  toward  them  [the  Jews]  that 
fell,  severity  [for  lack  of  faith,  not  want  of  merit]  ; 
but  toward  thee  [O  Gentile],  God's  goodness  [kind- 
ness not  won  by  thy  merit,  else  it  were  justice,  not 
goodness ;  but  goodness  toward  thee  by  reason  of 
thy  faith :  a  goodness  which  will  be  continued  to 
thee],  if  thou  continue  [by  faith,  and  the  works 
thereof,  to  keep  thyself]  in  his  goodness:  otherwise 
thou  also  [even  as  was  the  Jew  for  like  reasons  be- 
fore thee]  shalt  be  cut  off.  [From  the  theocratic 
tree.  Severity  and  goodness,  as  used  here,  are 
merely  relative.     They  do  not  express  the  true  con- 


468  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

dition,  but  merely  the  state  of  affairs  as  viewed  by 
those  who  still  clung  to  the  idea  of  legal  justification 
and  salvation  by  merit.  To  those  holding  such  views 
it  seemed  severe  indeed  that  the  better  man  should  be 
cut  off  for  lack  of  faith,  and  a  strange  act  of  good- 
ness that  the  zvorse  should  be  received  by  reason  of 
it  and  given  opportunity  to  become  fruitful;  but  the 
seeming  severity  vanishes  and  only  the  goodness 
remains  when  we  reflect  that  according  to  the  right- 
eous judgment  of  God  it  was  impossible  that  either 
of  them  should  be  received  any  other  way.  The 
apostle's  next  purpose  is  to  present  a  further  argu- 
ment against  Gentile  pride;  viz.,  the  final  restoration 
of  the  Jewish  people  and  the  restitution  of  all  their 
original  privileges  and  rights.  This  prophetic  fact 
is  revealed  as  a  possibility  in  the  next  two  verses, 
and  established  fully  as  a  decreed  event  in  the  next 
section.]  23  And  they  [the  unbelieving  mass  of 
Israel]  also  [together  with  you],  if  they  continue 
not  in  their  unbelief  [for  it  is  not  a  question  of  any 
comparative  lack  of  legal  merit  on  their  part],  shall 
be  grafted  in:  for  God  is  able  to  graft  them  in  again. 
[There  is  no  insuperable  reason  why  they  can  not 
be  grafted  in,  and  that  blessed  event  will  take  place 
whenever  the  unbelief  which  has  caused  their  sever- 
ance shall  cease.  In  Paul's  day  individual  Jews  were 
being  grafted  in  (the  "some"  of  verse  14)  ;  but  in 
the  glad  future  of  which  the  apostle  here  speaks,  the 
nation  (or  the  "all  Israel"  of  verse  26)  shall  be 
grafted  in.  However,  the  Avord  "able"  suggests  the 
extreme  difficulty  of  overcoming  the  obdurate  unbe- 
lief of  Israel.  It  is  a  task  for  God's  almightiness, 
but,  though  difficult,  yet,  as  verse  24  shows,  most 
natural,  after  all.]  24  For  if  thou  wast  cut  out  of 
that  which  is  by  nature  a  wild  olive  tree,  and  wast 
grafted  contrary  to  nature  into  a  good  olive  tree; 
how  much  more  shall  these,  which  are  the  natural 
branches,  be  grafted  into  their  own  olive  tree?  [Here 
we  are  referred  to  nature  for  the  point  emphasized 
in   the    apostle's   lesson,   that   we   may   see    that   the 


SALUTARY   RESULTS  469 

present  system  of  grace,  as  operating  under  the 
terms  of  conversion  established  as  the  basis  of  theo- 
cratic life  in  the  New  Testament,  operates  in  double 
contradiction  to  nature.  For  (1)  grafting  is  unnatural; 
(2)  grafting  bad  to  good  is  unnatural ;  for  in  nature  the 
engraft  always  chans'es  the  juice  of  the  stalk  to  its  own 
nature,  so  as  to  still  bear  its  own  fruit.  Hence  the 
superior  is  always  grafted  into  the  inferior.  But  in 
grace  this  rule  is  so  changed  and  operated  so  ''con- 
trary to  nature,"  that  the  sap,  passing  into  the  tame, 
natural,  superior  Jewish  branches,  yielded  corrupt 
fruit,  so  that  they  had  to  be  severed ;  while  the  same 
sap,  passing  into  the  wild,  grafted,  inferior  Gentile 
branches,  communicated  its  fatness  to  them,  so  that 
they  yielded  good  fruit.  But  as  it  is  an  accepted  axiom- 
atic premise  that  even  God  works  more  readily, 
regularly  and  satisfactorily  along  the  lines  of  the 
natural  than  he  does  along  those  of  the  supernatural 
and  miraculous,  so  it  is  unquestionably  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  if  the  Jew  will  consent  to  be  grafted 
in  by  belief,  the  sap  of  his  own  tree  will  work  more 
readily  for  him  than  it  did  in  Paul's  day  for  the 
Gentiles,  or  wild  olive  branches  which  were  not  of 
the  tree  save  by  the  grafting,  or  union,  of  belief. 
"For,"  says  Chrysostom,  "if  faith  can  achieve  thai 
which  is  contrary  to  nature,  much  more  can  it  achieve 
what  is  according  to  it."  By  age-long,  hereditary 
and  educational  qualifications  the  Jew  has  acquired 
a  natural  affinity  for,  and  a  pre-established  harmony 
with,  all  that  has  come  to  the  world  through  the 
promises  to  Abraham,  and  in  fulfillment  of  the  words 
of  the  prophets.  In  short,  the  conversion  of  the 
Jew  ^f  our  day  is  a  vastly  more  reasonable  expecta- 
tion than  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  which 
actually  took  place  in  Paul's  day.  Let  no  man, 
therefore,  doubt  Paul's  prediction  of  the  ultimate 
conversion  of  the  Jews.  "If  God,"  says  Stuart,  "had 
mercy  on  the  Gentiles,  who  were  outcasts  from  his 
favor  and  strangers  to  the  covenant  of  his  promise, 
shall  he  not  have  mercy  on  the  people  whom  he  has 

31 


470  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

always  distinguished  as  being  peculiarly  his  own, 
by  the  bestowment  of  many  important  privileges  and 
advantages  upon  them?" 


V. 

FIFTH  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  GRAND  CON- 
CLUSION—GENTILES AND  JEWS  HAV- 
ING   EACH    PASSED    THROUGH    A 
LIKE  SEASON  OF  DISOBEDI- 
ENCE, A   LIKE  MERCY 
SHALL  BE  SHOWN 
TO  EACH. 

11:25-32. 

["The  future  conversion  of  Israel,"  says  Gifford, 
"having  been  proved  to  be  both  possible  and  prob- 
able, is  now  shown  to  be  the  subject  of  direct  revela- 
tion."] 25  For  I  would  not,  brethren,  have  you 
ignorant  [This  form  of  expression  is  used  by  the 
apostle  to  indicate  a  most  important  communication 
to  which  he  wishes  his  readers  to  give  special  atten- 
tion, as  something  strange  and  contrary  to  their 
expectation  (Rom.  1:13;  1  Cor.  10:1;  12:1;  2  Cor. 
1:8;  1  Thess.  4:13) — in  this  case,  a  revelation  from 
God]  of  this  mystery  [The  word  miisterion  is  used 
twenty-seven  times  in  the  New  Testament.  As 
digested  and  classified  by  Tholuck,  it  has  three 
meanings;  thus:  1.  Such  matters  of  fact  as  are  inac- 
cessible to  human  reason,  and  can  only  be  known 
through  revelation  (Rom.  16:25;  1  Cor.  2:7-10; 
Eph.  1:9;  3:4;  6:19;  Col.  1:26;  etc.).  2.  Such 
matters  as  are  patent  facts,  but  the  process  of  which 
can  not  be  entirely  taken  in  by  the  reason  (1  Cor. 
14:2;  13:2;  Eph.  5:32;  I.Tim.  3:9,  16).  3.  That 
which  is  no  mystery  in  itself,  but  by  its  figurative 
import  (Matt.  13:11;  Rev.  1:20;  17:5;  2  Thess. 
2:7).     The  first  is  the  meaning  here.     Paul  is  about 


MERCY   SHALL   BE   SHOWN  471 

to  communicate  a  revelation  which  was  given  of 
God,  and  could  never  have  been  divined  by  any- 
process  of  the  human  intellect.  As  the  conversion 
of  the  Gentiles  was  so  unthinkable  that  it  had  to  be 
made  known  to  the  Jew  by  revelation  (Eph.  3:1-6; 
Acts  10,  11),  so  here  the  conversion  of  the  Jew  was 
so  unbelievable  that  it  also  had  to  be  made  known 
to  the  Gentile  by  revelation],  lest  ye  be  wise  in  your 
own  conceits  [This  revelation  of  the  conversion  and 
ultimate  elevation  of  Israel  to  his  former  position 
of  leadership  comes  to  Paul,  and  is  imparted  by 
him  to  the  Gentiles,  to  prevent  them  from  following 
their  own  vain  and  mistaken  opinions  as  to  the 
relative  theocratic  positions  of  Jews  and  Gentiles,  by 
which  they  would  flatteringly  deceive  themselves  into 
thinking  too  well  of  themselves  as  occupying  per- 
manently Israel's  ancient  post  of  honor,  and  too  ill 
of  Israel  as  thrust  out  and  cast  off  forever.  The 
reversal  of  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  in  fortune  and 
honor  was  but  a  temporary  affair.  It  is  significant 
that  this  publication  of  a  revelation,  and  accompany- 
ing rebuke  of  the  opposing  self-conceit  of  human 
opinion  and  judgment,  should  be  addressed  to  the 
Church  of  Rome !  The  more  one  ponders  it,  the 
more  portentous  it  becomes],  that  a  hardening  in 
part  hath  befallen  Israel  [Here  is  the  first  term  of 
the  threefold  revelation.  Calvin  and  others  connect 
**in  part"  with  ''hardening,"  so  that  the  meaning  is 
that  a  partial  hardening  has  befallen  Israel.  But 
hardening,  as  mentioned  at  9:18  or  11:7,  is  not 
qualified  as  partial.  "In  part"  is  properly  connected 
with  "Israel."  A  portion  of  Israel  is  hardened.  This 
agrees  with  the  entire  context,  which  tells  of  a  rem- 
nant saved  (11:5),  and  the  rest  or  larger  portion 
fallen  (11:12),  cast  away  (11:15),  and  hardened. 
So  "in  part"  stands  for  "the  rest"  of  11:7,  and  in 
contrast  to  the  "some"  of  11:17.  The  bulk  of  the 
Jewish  nation,  persistently  and  rebelliously  refusing 
to  believe  in  Christ,  had,  as  their  punishment,  a  dull- 
ing  of   their    perceptions    and    a    deadening   of    their 


472  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

sensibilities  sent  upon  them.  We  can  understand 
this  punishment  better  if  we  compare  it  with  its 
counterpart  which  befell  the  Gentiles.  As  they  dis- 
honored the  form  or  body  of  God  by  presuming  to 
make  degrading,  beast-shaped  images  of  it,  so  God 
gave  them  up  to  degrade  their  own  bodies  (1 :  23,  24). 
As  they  preferred  lies  to  truth  in  things  pertaining 
to  God,  he  gave  them  up  to  prefer  lying,  deceptive, 
unnatural  uses  of  themselves,  to  the  true  and  natural 
uses  (1:25-27).  As  they  refused  to  have  a  right 
mind  about  God,  he  gave  them  up  to  a  reprobate 
mind  (1:28-32).  So  here,  in  his  parallel  treatment  of 
the  Jew,  he  found  them  steeling  their  hearts  against 
his  love  (John  3 :  16)  and  against  the  drawing  power 
of  the  cross  (John  8:28;  12:32),  and  he  gave  them 
up  to  the  hardness  which  they  chose  and  desired. 
Now  follows  the  second  term  of  the  revelation  which 
makes  known  how  long  this  hardness  should  endure ; 
viz.],  until  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come  in 
[The  hardness  of  the  Jews  shall  cease,  and  the  veil 
which  blinds  their  eyes  shall  fall  (1  Cor.  3:14,  15), 
when  the  number  of  saved  which  God  has  allotted 
to  be  gathered  during  the  Gentile  dispensation  (or 
"times  of  the  Gentiles" — Luke  21 :  24)  has  been  made 
complete,  and  has  ''come  in,"  to  the  theocratic  olive- 
tree.  In  other  words,  as  the  Gentiles  were  "given 
up"  (1:23,  25,  28)  during  the  entire  period  of  the 
Jewish  dispensation,  so  the  Jews  are  to  be  "hardened" 
during  the  entire  period  of  the  Gentile  dispensation. 
The  millennium,  or  final  dispensation,  which  is  to 
follow  this  present  Gentile  dispensation,  w^ill  be  given 
into  the  hands  of  Jew  and  Gentile  jointly,  and  will 
be  as  life  from  the  dead  to  both  parties,  because  of 
the  glorious  season  of  revival  which  shall  characterize 
it  almost  to  its  end.  "Fulness  of  the  Gentiles"  is, 
therefore,  "not  the  general  conversion  of  the  world 
to  Christ,  as  many  take  it,"  says  Brown ;  "for  this 
would  seem  to  contradict  the  latter  part  of  this  chap- 
ter, and  throw  the  national  recovery  of  Israel  too 
far  into  the  future:  besides,  in  verse  15,  the  apostle 


MERCY.    SHALL    BE   SHOWN  473 

seems  to  speak  of  the  receiving  of  Israel,  not  as  fol- 
lowing-, but  as  contributing  largely  to  bring  about, 
the  general  conversion  of  the  world — but,  until  the 
Gentiles  have  had  their  full  time  [as  possessors]  of 
the  visible  church  all  to  themselves  while  the  Jews 
are  out,  which  the  Jews  had  till  the  Gentiles  were 
brought  in.  See  Luke  21 :  24."  And  this  brings  us 
to  the  conditions,  or  developments,  which  succeed 
the  hardening,  or  the  third  term  of  the  mystery  or 
revelation  which  Paul  is  here  making  known ;  viz.]  ; 
26  and  so  [that  is,  in  this  way;  namely,  by  abiding 
till  this  determinate  time]  all  Israel  [the  national 
totality,  the  portion  hardened ;  a  round-number  ex- 
pression, allowing  liberty  to  any  small  remnant  which 
may  possibly  still  persist  in  unbelief]  shall  be  saved 
[Shall  be  Christianized  by  overcoming  their  unbe- 
lief. And  this  revelation,  fully  detailed  by  Paul,  had 
already  been  adumbrated  or  partially  published  in 
the  prophets,  as  follows]  :  even  as  it  is  written,  There 
shall  come  out  of  Zion  the  Deliverer;  He  shall  turn 
away  ungodliness  from  Jacob  [Isa.  59:20f]:  27  And 
this  is  my  covenant  [lit.  the  covenant  from  me]  unto 
them.  When  I  shall  take  away  their  sins.  [Isa.  27: 
9.  (Comp.  Jer.  31 :  31-34.)  Verse  26  is  quoted  from 
the  LXX.,  but  Paul  changes  "come  in  favor  of  Zion" 
to  read,  "come  out  of  Zion,"  following  a  phrase  found 
at  Ps.  14:  7.  None  can  say  why  he  made  this  change, 
but  it  prevents  confusion  as  to  the  first  and  second 
advent.  Christ's  second  advent  will  be  out  of  heaven, 
not  out  of  Zion.  Bengel  calls  attention  to  the  fact 
that  as  Paul  in  Romans  3  combines  Isaiah  59  and 
Psalm  14,  to  prove  the  sinfulness  of  mankind,  espe- 
cially of  the  Jews,  so  he  here  seems  to  combine  the 
same  two  parts  of  Scripture  to  prove  the  salvation 
of  Israel  from  sin.  Moreover,  as  in  chapter  9  he  lets 
Isaiah  describe  Israel  as  reduced  to  a  remnant  (9: 
27-29),  so  he  here  appeals  to  the  same  inspired  pen- 
man as  the  foreteller  of  the  salvation  of  all  Israel. 
Christ  the  Deliverer  had  already  come,  so  that  part 
of   the    prophecy    had   been    fulfilled,   but   the    future 


474  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

effects  of  the  gospel  were  yet  to  accomplish  the  sal- 
vation of  the  Jews  as  a  nation  in  two  ways:  (1)  By 
turning-  them  from  their  ungodly  infidelity;  (2)  by 
forgiving  their  sins.  Jewish  unbelief  will  not  be 
removed  by  any  change  in  the  gospel :  it  is  complete 
and  unalterable.  The  changes  which  will  work  upon 
the  Jews  will  be  those  wrought  in  the  world  by  the 
gospel.  **And  this  is  the  covenant  from  me,"  etc., 
signifies.  My  covenant  unto  them  shall  be  executed 
and  completed  on  my  part  when  I  forgive  their  sins. 
To  the  Jews,  therefore,  there  was,  on  God's  part,  in 
Paul's  day,  a  present  attitude  of  rejection  manifesting 
itself  in  hardening,  and  a  future  attitude  of  accept- 
ance sometime  to  manifest  itself  in  forgiveness,  and 
these  attitudes  are  thus  described]  28  As  touching 
the  gospel,  they  [the  unbelieving  Israelites]  are 
[regarded  by  God  as]  enemies  for  your  sake  [that 
their  fall  might  enrich  you.  See  verse  12]  :  but  as 
touching  the  election,  they  are  beloved  for  the 
fathers*  sake.  [Or  on  account  of  the  fathers.  The 
call,  or  election,  of  Israel  gave  them  national,  hered- 
itary rights  (of  which  salvation  was  not  an  essential 
part;  it  being  eternally  designed  to  be  an  individual, 
not  a  national,  matter)  that  were  to  last  to  the  end 
of  the  world  (Lev.  26:40-45)  ;  but  which  provided  for, 
or  anticipated,  that  break,  interim  or  hiatus  known  as 
"the  times  of  the  Gentiles."  During  all  the  years  of 
the  Gentile  dispensation  God  cast  off  his  people  and 
regarded  them  as  enemies  in  every  field  of  vision 
where  they  came  in  conflict  with  or  interfered  with 
the  Christians,  or  New  Covenant,  Gentile  people. 
Yet,  notwithstanding,  in  all  other  respects  they  have 
been  and  will  be  loved  and  cared  for  by  God,  on 
account  of  his  own  love  for  the  fathers,  and  his 
eternal  covenants  with  them.  This  mixture  of  pres- 
ent enmity  and  future  benevolence  characterizes 
God's  attitude  toward  every  unrepentant  sinner  who 
is  to  become  a  future  saint.  So  long  as  he  abides  in 
sin  he  is  an  enemy,  yet  loved  for  the  sake  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.     The  condition  of  the  Jew  is  therefore 


MERCY   SHALL    BE   SHOWN  475 

well  defined.  His  ancestral  covenants  have  no  value 
unto  salvation,  but  they  are  invaluable  as  an  assur- 
ance that  he  shall  be  continued  as  a  people  until  he 
accepts  the  gospel  which  is  the  covenant  unto  sal- 
vation.] 29  For  the  gifts  and  the  calling  of  God  are 
not  repented  of.  [A  corollary  growing  out  of  the 
axiom  that  the  all-wise  God  makes  no  mistakes  and 
consequently  knows  no  repentance  (Num.  23:19; 
Ezek.  24:14;  1  Sam.  15:29).  Repentance  and  regret 
imply  miscalculation  (Jas.  1 :  17).  The  term  ''gifts"  is 
of  very  wide  application.  God  gave  to  the  Jew  cer- 
tain spiritual  endowments  and  moral  aptitudes  fitting 
him  for  religious  leadership ;  God  also  gave  to  him 
manifold  promises  and  covenants,  and  the  general 
rights  of  the  elder  brother  or  first-born  (Luke  15: 
25-32),  including  priority  in  all  spiritual  matters 
(Acts  1:8;  3:25,  26;  13:46;  Rom.  1:16;  2:9,  10; 
1  Pet.  4:17).  The  calling  is  closely  related  to  the 
gifts,  for  the  Jews  were  called  to  be  God's  peculiar 
people  (Deut.  7:6]  Ps.  135:4),  and  were  thereby 
called  upon  to  discharge  all  the  duties  and  obliga- 
tions belonging  to  their  station  and  arising  out  of 
their  endowments  (Luke  20:9-18);  and  likewise 
called  to  enjoy  all  the  blessings  and  privileges  of  their 
stewardship,  if  found  faithful  in  it  (Luke  12:35-48). 
Now,  God  has  not  changed  his  purpose  as  to  either 
gifts  or  calling.  The  Jew's  rights  are  temporarily 
suspended  during  the  Gentile  dispensation.  They 
have  never  been  withdrawn,  and  will  be  restored 
whenever  the  Jew  becomes  a  believer.  As  pledge  of 
the  permanent  nature  of  Jewish  precedence,  the 
twelve  gates  of  the  Eternal  City  bear  the  names  of 
the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  (Rev.  21:12),  and  the 
twelve  foundations  thereof  bear  the  names  of  the 
twelve  Jewish  apostles — Rev.  21 :  14.]  30  For  as  ye 
[Gentiles]  in  time  past  were  disobedient  to  God 
[Rom.  1:16-32;  Acts  17:30],  but  now  have  obtained 
mercy  by  their  [the  Jews']  disobedience  [v.  15],  31 
even  so  have  these  [the  Jews]  also  now  been  dis- 
obedient, that  by  the  mercy  shown  to  you  they  also 


476  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

may  now  obtain  mercy.  [How  the  Gentile  received 
blessing  by  reason  of  the  casting  off  of  the  Jew  has 
already  been  explained  at  verse  15.  As  the  Gentile 
went  through  a  season  of  disobedience,  from  which 
he  was  saved  by  severity  shown  to  the  Jew,  so  the 
Jew  was  to  have  a  like  season  of  disobedience,  from 
which  he  in  turn  is  to  be  eventually  saved  by  God's 
mercy  to  the  Gentiles.  Some  construe  the  **mercy" 
to  mean  that  the  Gentiles  are  to  have  a  continuous, 
ever-increasing  spiritual  prosperity  until  finally  the 
very  excess  of  the  flood  of  it  sweeps  Israel  into  be- 
lief, and  therefore  into  the  kingdom^.  But  such  a 
construction  plainly  denies  the  New  Testament 
prophecies  which  speak  of  a  ''falling  away"  (2  Thess. 
2:3)  in  *'the  last  days"  (2  Tim.  3:1-9),  and  do  not 
accord  with  the  effects  of  gospel  preaching  as  an- 
nounced by  Christ  (Matt.  24:14).  The  meaning  is 
that  God's  mercy  to  the  Gentiles  in  Paul's  day  pre- 
served the  gospel  in  the  world  for  the  ultimate  bless- 
ing of  the  Jews,  and  God's  continued  mercy  to  the 
Gentiles  through  the  centuries,  and  even  through  the 
latter  days  of  their  acute  apostasy,  will  still  keep  the 
gospel  till  the  Jews  are  ready  to  accept  it.  God's 
mercy  to  the  evil,  Gentile  earthen  vessel  preserves 
the  truth  wherein  lies  salvation,  and  will  continue  to 
preserve  it  till  the  Jew  drinks  of  the  water  of  life 
which  it  conserves  (2  Cor.  4:7).  In  short,  the  cases 
are  reversed.  The  Jewish  dispensation  ended  in  a 
breakdown,  but  not  until  the  Gentiles  became  recep- 
tacles of  the  truth.  Mercy  was  shown  to  the  Jew  till 
this  Gentile  belief  was  assured.  So  the  Gentile  dis- 
pensation shall  likewise  terminate  in  failure,  but  not 
until  Jewish  belief  is  assured.  We  are  even  now 
obtaining  mercy  waiting  for  the  consummation  of 
that  part  of  God's  plan.  As  God  once  spared  the 
Jew  till  his  blessings  were  transferred  without  loss 
to  the  Gentiles,  so  v/ill  he  now  spare  the  Gentile  till 
the  truth  now  stored  in  him  has  time  to  pass  safely 
to  the  Jew.  And  as  surely  as  he  shifted  his  Spirit 
and  mercies  from  Jew  to  Gentile,  just  so  surely  will 


MERCY   SHALL    BE   SHOWN  A77 

he  in  turn  shift  back  and  re-endow  the  Jew.  The 
apostle  is  here  giving  his  whole  attention  to  the  acts 
of  God,  and  omits  for  the  time  all  reference  to  that 
human  agency  which  paved  the  way  for  the  divine 
action.  However,  it  is  indicated  in  the  word  "mercy." 
The  change  in  either  case  was  in  justice  long  overdue 
before  it  came.]  32  For  God  hath  shut  up  all  unto 
disobedience,  that  he  might  have  mercy  upon  all. 
[The  verb  ''shut  up"  is,  as  Barnes  observes,  "properly 
used  in  reference  to  those  who  are  shut  up  in  prison, 
or  to  those  in  a  city  who  are  shut  up  by  a  besieging 
army  (1  Mace.  5:5;  6:18;  11:65;  15:25;  Josh.  6:f; 
Isa.  45:  1).  It  is  used  in  the  New  Testament  of  fish 
taken  in  a  net  (Luke  5:6)."  It  here  means  that  God 
has  rendered  it  impossible  for  any  man,  either  Jew 
or  Gentile,  to  save  himself  by  his  own  merit.  For 
some  two  thousand  years  the  Gentiles  sinned  against 
God  as  revealed  in  nature,  and  broke  his  unwritten 
law  found  in  their  own  consciences  (Rom.  1:19,  20; 
2:  14-16),  their  sin  being  known  generally  as  idolatry. 
And  now,  for  about  an  equal  length  of  time,  the  Jews 
have  sinned  against  God  as  revealed  in  Christ,  and 
have  broken  his  written  law  as  found  in  the  Old 
Testament,  their  sin  being  practically  the  same  as 
that  of  the  Gentiles,  though  called  infidelity.  Thus 
God  shut  each  class  up  under  a  hopeless  condemna- 
tion of  disobedience  as  in  a  jail,  that  he  might  extend 
a  general  pardon  to  each,  and  save  each  by  his  grace 
and  not  by  human  merit.  "All"  is  used  in  the  general 
sense,  and  does  not  signify  universal  salvation  irre- 
spective of  belief  in  Christ  (Gal.  3  :  22).  It  is  used  here 
to  show  that,  in  shifting  from  Gentile  to  Jew,  God 
will  act  in  no  arbitrary  or  partial  spirit.  He  will  not 
reject  any  of  either  class  who  live  worthily.  It  means 
that  hereafter  each  class  shall  be  equally  favored  in 
preaching  and  all  other  gospel  privileges.  "The  em- 
phasis," says  Calvin,  "in  this  verse  is  on  the  word 
MERCY.  It  signifies  that  God  is  under  obligation  to  no 
one,  and  therefore  that  all  are  saved  by  grace,  because 
all  are  equally  ruined." 


478  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 


VI. 

CONCLUDING  ASCRIPTIONS   OF  PRAISE  TO 

GOD  FOR  HIS  JUDGMENTS,  WAYS 

AND  RICHES. 

11:33-36. 

[Guided  by  the  revelations  imparted  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  apostle  has  made  known  many  profound 
and  blessed  mysteries,  and  has  satisfactorily  answered 
many  critical  and  perplexing  questions,  and  has 
traced  for  his  readers  the  course  of  the  two  branches 
of  the  human  family,  the  Jew  and  the  Gentile,  from 
their  beginning  in  the  distant  past,  in  a  condition  of 
unity,  through  the  period  of  their  separation  by 
reason  of  the  call  of  the  Jews  into  a  Theocracy,  fol- 
lowed by  a  continuation  of  the  separation,  by  the 
call  of  the  Gentiles  into  a  Theocracy,  on  into  the 
future  when  both  are  to  be  again  brought  together 
in  unity  (Matt.  15:24;  John  10:16).  "Never,"  says 
Godet,  "was  survey  more  vast  taken  of  the  divine 
plan  of  the  world's  history."  As  the  apostle  sur- 
veyed it  all,  beheld  its  wisdom  and  grace,  its  justice 
and  symmetry,  he  bursts  forth  in  the  ascriptions  of 
praise  which  follow.]  33  O  the  depth  of  the  riches 
both  of  the  wisdom  and  the  knowledge  of  God!  [We 
prefer  the  marginal  reading,  "O  the  depth  of  the 
riches  and  wisdom  and  knowledge,"  etc.  Either  of 
the  readings  is  perfectly  grammatical.  It  is  objected 
against  the  marginal  reading  that  the  reading  in  the 
text  is  "simpler  and  more  natural"  (Dzvight)  ;  that 
the  context  following  says  nothing  about  riches 
{Brown)  ;  that  the  notion  of  riches  is  too  diverse  in 
kind  to  be  co-ordinated  with  knowledge  and  wisdom 
{Godet).  To  these  it  may  be  added  (as  suggested  by 
Meyer)  that  the  style  of  the  apostle  usually  follows 
that  of  the  text.  Compare  "riches  of  his  grace"  (Eph. 
1:7;  2:7;  Phil.  4:  19).     Nevertheless,  depth  of  riches 


ASCRIPTIONS    OF   PRAISE  479 

and  wisdom  and  knowledge  is  the  best  reading  here, 
for  riches,  as  we  have  just  seen,  imply,  with  refer- 
ence to  God,  his  wealth  of  grace,  or  some  kindred 
virtue;  as,  goodness,  forbearance,  longsuffering,  etc. 
(Rom.  2:4;  10:12;  Eph.  2:4).  Now,  in  this  in- 
stance the  mercy  of  God  was  the  thrice-repeated  and 
last  idea  (in  the  Greek,  the  last  zvord)  dropping  from 
the  apostle's  pen  (see  vs.  31,  32),  and  it  is  these 
riches  of  mercy  and  grace  that  move  him  to  praise, 
and  that  give  birth  to  the  section  before  us.  More- 
over, these  riches  are  the  burden  of  what  has  gone 
before.  See  9 :  23  for  "riches  of  glory  upon  vessels 
of  mercy,"  and  10 :  12  for  "rich  unto  all,"  and  8 :  35- 
39  for  a  description  of  the  saints'  wealth  in  God's 
love.  As,  therefore,  the  mercy  or  lovingkindness  of 
God  is  uppermost  in  the  apostle's  thoughts,  and  as 
it  is  the  main  inspiration  for  all  human  praise  (Ps. 
107,  118,  136),  it  is  hard  to  conceive  that  Paul  would 
turn  from  it  in  silence,  and  burst  forth  in  raptures 
over  God's  wisdom  and  knowledge,  for  the  wisdom 
and  knowledge  of  God  stir  us  to  highest  raptures  only 
as  we  see  them  expended  in  merciful  lovingkindness. 
"Depth"  is  a  common  Greek  expression  for  inex- 
haustible fullness  or  superabundance.  It  is  so  used 
by  Sophocles,  ^schylus,  Pindar  and  Plato  (see  refer- 
ences in  Gifford).  It  is  so  used  here,  though,  as  em- 
ployed by  Bible  writers,  it  generally  means  that 
which  is  so  vast  or  intricate  as  to  be  incomprehen- 
sible to  the  common  mind  (Ps.  36:6;  1  Cor.  2:10; 
Rev.  2:24).  The  superabundance  of  God's  knowledge 
has  been  made  apparent  in  this  Epistle.  It,  as  Plumer 
describes  it,  "is  his  perfect  intelligence  of  all  that 
ever  is,  ever  was,  or  ever  shall  be,  and  of  all  that 
could  now  be,  or  could  heretofore  have  been,  or 
could  hereafter  be  on  any  conceivable  supposition." 
It  enables  God  to  grant  perfect  free  will  to  man,  and 
still  foresee  his  every  act,  and  empowers  him  to  com- 
bine men  of  free  will  in  endless  social,  political  and 
commercial  complications,  and  yet  foresee  results 
arising    from    myriads    of    combined    free    agencies, 


480  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

thus  enabling  him  to  discern  the  effects  upon  the 
Gentiles  wrought  by  the  rejection  of  the  Jews,  and 
the  results,  proximate  and  ultimate,  wrought  upon 
the  Jew  by  the  acceptance  and  rejection  of  the  Gen- 
tiles. Such  are  samples  of  the  knowledge  of  God 
exhibited  in  Romans.  The  wisdom  of  God  enables 
him  to  design  the  best  purposes,  the  most  blessed 
and  happy  results,  the  most  perfect  and  satisfactory 
ends,  while  his  knowledge  empowers  him  to  choose 
the  best  means,  employ  the  best  methods  or  modes 
of  procedure,  devise  the  best  plans,  select  the  most 
perfect  instruments,  etc.,  for  accomplishing  of  those 
holy  and  benevolent  purposes.  In  short,  the  wisdom 
of  God  foresees  the  desired  end,  and  his  knowledge 
causes  all  things  to  work  together  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  it.  Refraining,  for  the  moment,  from 
describing  the  riches  of  God,  the  apostle  proceeds  to 
give  a  parallel  setting  forth  of  the  excellency  of 
God's  wisdom  and  knowledge,  thus :]  how  unsearch- 
able are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past  tracing 
out!  [Job  5:9;  11:7]  34  For  who  hath  known  the 
mind  of  the  Lord?  or  who  hath  been  his  counsellor? 
[Isa.  40:13;  Jer.  23:18.  "Judgments"  and  "mind" 
have  reference  to  God's  wisdom ;  "ways"  and  "coun- 
sellor" look  toward  his  knowledge.  Knowledge  pre- 
cedes wisdom.  It  gathers  the  facts  and  ascertains 
the  truths  and  perceives  their  meaning,  and  then 
wisdom  enters  with  its  powers  of  ratiocination  and 
traces  the  relations  of  truth  to  truth  and  fact  to  fact, 
and  invents  procedures,  devises  methods,  constructs 
processes,  etc.,  and  utilizes  the  raw  material  of 
knowledge  to  effect  ends,  accomplish  purposes  and 
achieve  results.  Therefore,  as  Gifford  observes, 
"knowledge"  is  theoretical,  "wisdom"  is  practical,  and 
while  "knowledge"  is  purely  intellectual,  "wisdom"  is 
also  moral,  and  for  that  reason  is  both  the  most  per- 
fect of  mental  gifts  (Aristotle,  Nic.  Eth.  6 :  10)  and  the 
queen  of  all  virtues  (Cicero,  'de  Off.'  1:43)."  God's 
knowledge  foresees  all  the  evil  desires,  designs,  in- 
tentions   and    actions    of    men    and    demons,    of    the 


ASCRIPTIONS    OF   PRAISE  481 

devil  and  his  angels ;  and  his  wisdom  expends  itself 
in  transforming  all  these  opposing  powers  and  forces 
into  so  many  means  and  aids  for  the  accomplishment 
of  his  own  holy  designs  and  beneficent  purposes. 
Exercising  his  wisdom,  God  judges  or  decrees,  or 
determines  or  purposes  in  his  mind,  what  is  best  to 
be  done,  or  to  be  brought  to  pass,  and  these  designs 
or  purposes  are  wholly  hidden  from  man  save  as 
God  reveals  them.  We  see  his  moves  upon  the 
chessboard  of  events,  but  the  motives  back  of  the 
moves  lie  hidden  in  a  depth  of  wisdom  too  profound 
for  man  to  fathom.  ''Ways"  is  derived  from  the 
word  for  ''footsteps,"  and  "tracing"  is  a  metaphor 
borrowed  from  the  chase,  where  the  dog,  scenting 
the  footstep,  follows  the  trail,  or  "way,"  the  game 
has  taken.  The  means  which  God  chooses  leave  no 
track,  and  they  can  not  be  run  down  and  taken  cap- 
tive by  the  mind  of  man.  Nor  does  God  seek  infor- 
mation or  ask  counsel  of  man.  He  is  a  ruler  without 
a  cabinet,  a  sovereign  without  a  privy  council,  a 
king  without  a  parliament.  His  knowledge  needs 
no  augmentation.  He  accepts  no  derived  information, 
and  borrows  no  knowledge,  but  draws  all  from  his 
own  boundless  resources.  If  we  can  not  divine  the 
purpose  of  his-  chessboard  moves  as  chosen  by  his 
wisdom,  neither  can  we  even  guess  their  effects 
which  his  knowledge  foresees,  for  he  produces  unex- 
pected results  from  contrary  causes,  so  that  he  makes 
the  Gentiles  rich  by  Jewish  poverty,  and  yet  richer 
by  Jewish  riches.  His  wisdom  sought  the  salvation 
of  Jew  and  Gentile,  yet  his  knowledge  foresaw  that 
racial  antipathy  would  keep  them  from  working  to- 
gether till  ripened  in  character;  so  he  worked  with 
each  separately.  As  each  sought  to  establish  the 
sufficiency  of  his  own  self-righteousness,  he  let  them 
each  try  it,  one  with  natural  and  the  other  with 
revealed  law.  To  each  he  gave  a  season  of  covenant 
relation  and  a  season  of  rejection,  and  in  the  end  he 
will  unite  the  two  and  have  mercy  on  both.  Such 
is   the   coworking  of   God's   wisdom   and   knowledge. 


482  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

The  scheme  is  outlined  in  the  parable  of  the  prodigal 
son,  the  prodigal  being  the  Gentile  and  the  Jew  the 
elder  brother,  not  yet  reconciled  to  the  Father,  but 
still  offended  at  his  kindness  to  the  outcast.  When 
the  elder  brother  is  reconciled,  the  story  will  be  com- 
plete.] 35  or  who  hath  first  given  to  him,  and  it 
shall  be  recompensed  unto  him  again?  [Job  41:11. 
This  question  emphasizes  the  riches  of  God,  intro- 
duced at  verse  33.  The  riches  mentioned  are  those 
of  mercy  and  grace.  If  we  can  not  exchange  gifts 
with  God  along  the  most  material  lines,  as  here  indi- 
cated, how  shall  we  purchase  his  mercy,  buy  up  his 
love,  or  merit  his  salvation?  The  moralist,  whether 
Jew  or  Gentile,  can  place  God  under  no  obligation 
whatever,  for  naught  can  be  given  to  him  who  justly 
claims  all  things  (Ex.  19:5;  Deut.  10:14;.Ps.  24:1; 
50:  12).  *'Do  we  not,"  says  Trapp,  *'owe  him  all  that 
we  have  and  are,  and  can  a  man  merit  by  paying  his 
debts?"  (Luke  17:  10).  God  gives  all  and  to  all,  and 
he  receives  from  none.  Behold  his  grace !  He  freely 
publishes  his  unknowable  knowledge,  that  the  sim- 
plest may  profit  by  his  omniscience ;  he  fully  reveals 
his  unsearchable  wisdom,  that  the  feeblest  may 
co-operate  with  his  omnipotence;  and  he  lovingly 
gives  his  unmeritable  gifts,  that  the  poorest  may 
enjoy  his  riches  forever !  Oh  that  men  might  know 
their  riches  in  him,  their  folly,  their  weakness,  their 
poverty  without  him! — Rev.  3:17,  18.]  36  For  of 
him,  and  through  him,  and  unto  him,  are  all  things. 
[Summary  statement  of  the  all-comprehensive  riches 
of  God.  1.  God,  in  the  beginning  or  past,  is  the 
author,  origin  and  creative  source  of  all  existence. 
He  is  the  efficient  original  cause  from  whence  all 
came  (hence  his  perfect  knowledge).  2.  God,  in  the 
middle  or  present,  is  the  sustaining,  supporting  means 
of  all  existence.  He  is  the  continuous  cause  by 
which  all  things  are  upheld.  By  ruling  and  over- 
ruling all  forces,  he  is  the  preserving  governor  and 
the  providential  director  of  creation  in  its  course 
toward  to-morrow   (hence  his  unerring  wisdom).     3. 


'ASCRIPTIONS   OF   PRAISE  483 

God,  in  the  end  or  future,  is  the  ultimate  purpose  or 
end  of  all  existence.  He  is  the  final  cause  for  which 
creation  was  and  is  and  will  be ;  for  all  things  move 
to  consummate  his  purposes,  fulfill  his  pleasure  and 
satisfy  his  love.  They  shall  glorify  him  and  be 
glorified  by  him  (hence  his  riches :  he  is  all  in  all — 
1  Cor.  15 :  28.]  To  him  be  the  glory  for  ever.  Amen. 
[Thus  with  the  customary  benediction  (Gal.  1:5;  2 
Tim.  4:18;  Heb.  13:21;  1  Pet.  5:11)  and  the  formal. 
"Amen,"  the  apostle  closes  the  doctrinal  division  of 
his  Epistle.] 


484  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 


PART  THIRD. 

HORTATORY    A  P  P  L  I  C  A  T  I  O  N  —  VARIOUS 

PHASES    OF    THE    FAITH-LIFE    OF 

THE    BELIEVER    IN    CHRIST. 

12:1—14:23. 


BASIS  OF  THE  FAITH-LIFE  DEFINED— IT  IS 
SACRIFICIAL   AND   SANCTIFIED. 

12:1,  2. 

[The  theme  of  this  great  Epistle  is  that  "the 
righteous  shall  live  by  faith"  (1:17),  and  its  grand 
conclusion  is  that  those  who  seek  life  this  way  find 
itj  and  all  who  seek  it  in  other  ways  fail  (9 :  30-33) 
But  the  popular  way  of  seeking  it  was  by  obeying 
the  precepts  of  the  great  moral  or  Mosaic  law.  If, 
then,  Paul's  letter  overthrows  all  trust  in  morality, 
of  what  use  is  morality?  And  what  bearing  has  his 
doctrine  on  lifef  May  one  live  as  he  pleases  and 
still  be  saved  by  his  faith?  Such  are  the  questions 
which  have  ever  arisen  in  men's  minds  on  first 
acquaintance  with  this  merciful  and  gracious  doc- 
trine. The  carnal  mind's  first  impulse  on  hearing 
the  publication  of  grace  is  to  abuse  grace  (6:  1. 
Comp.  Jas.  2  :  14-26).  Anticipating  the  questionings  and 
tendencies  of  the  weak  and  sinful  natures  of  his 
readers,  Paul  proceeds  to  first  define  the  life  of  faith 
(12:  1,  2).  It  is  a  sanctified,  sacrificial  life.  He  then 
illustrates  the  workings  of  this  sanctified  life  in  the 
two  grand  spheres  of  its  activities,  the  spiritual 
kingdom  of  God  or  the  church  (12:3-8)  and  the  civil 
kingdom  of  the  world   (12:9-21).     But  the   faith-life 


BASIS   OF    THE    FAITH-LIFE  485 

is  not  defined  didactically,  but  in  an  impassioned, 
hortatory  manner,  for  Paul  is  not  content  that  his 
hearers  should  know  theoretically  what  it  is ;  he 
wishes  them  to  have  experimental  knowledge  of  it, 
to  actually  live  it.  In  fact,  it  has  been  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  the  exhortation  of  this  section  that 
all  the  previous  chapters  have  been  written,  for  no 
Bible  doctrine  is  a  barren  speculation,  but  a  life-root, 
developed  that  it  may  bear  fruit  in  the  lives  of  those 
who  read  it.  And  here  is  the  hortatory  definition  of 
the  faith-life.]  XII.  1  I  beseech  you  therefore,  breth- 
ren, by  the  mercies  of  God,  to  present  your  bodies  a  liv- 
ing sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  to  God,  which  is  your 
spiritual  [more  correctly,  "logical"]  service.  [I  en- 
treat you,  brethren,  in  the  light  of  all  that  I  have 
written  you  about  this  faith-life,  making  as  the  motive 
or  ground  of  my  appeal  to  you  these  mercies  of 
God*  which  purchased  for  you  the  privilege  of  this 
life  by  the  death  of  his  Son  (3:23,  24),  which  par- 
doned your  iniquities  that  you  might  receive  it 
(3:25,  26),  which  cast  out  his  chosen  people  that 
your  access  to  it  might  not  be  hindered  (11:12), 
etc.,  etc.,  that  you  continuously  consecrate  your  lives 
to  God  as  living  thank  and  peace  offerings,  keeping 
them  ever  holy  and  acceptable  to  God,  which  is  the 
service  you  should  logically  render  in  the  light  of 
the  truth  presented  to  you  and  comprehended  by  you. 
The  word  ''mercies"  here  used  (oiktermos)  is  a 
stronger  word  than  that  (eleos)  used  in  verbal  form 
in  the  eleventh  chapter,  expressing  the  tenderest  com- 
passion. God's  main  mercies  in  the  gospel  are  of 
that  sort.  If  we  are  not  saved  by  works,  why  is 
sacrifice  demanded?  The  answer  was  plain  to  the 
Jew.  Of  the  four  sacrifices  demanded  by  the  law, 
two  were  offered  before  propitiation  and  to  obtain  it. 
These  were  the  sin  and  trespass  offerings.  Christ, 
who  is  our  propitiation,  offered  these  expiatory  sac- 
rifices for  believers,  so  that  they  are  pardoned,  justi- 

*  "He   who   is   rightly   affected   by   God's   mercy   enters   into   the    whole 
will  of  God"    (Bengel). 
32 


486  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

fied   and   saved   not   by   their   own    merit,   no   matter 
what   their    sacrifice,   but   are    redeemed   by   his    pur- 
chase in  the  offering  of  his  priceless  blood,  and  saved 
by  his  merit  as  acknowledged  by  the  Father.     If  the 
Jewish  program  of  sacrifices  had  stopped  here,  there 
would  have  been  no  Biblical  symbolism  showing  that 
Christians  are  called  upon  to  do  anything  in  a  sacri- 
ficial   way.      But    there    were    two    other    sacrifices 
offered  after  propitiation  and  expiation.     These  were 
the  burnt-offering,  offered  as  an  act  of  worship  daily 
and    also   on    occasions    of   joy    and    thanksgiving    (2 
Chron.    29:31,    32),    and    the    peace-offerings,    which 
spoke    of    restored    fellowship    and    communion    with 
'God.      Now,    the    faith-life    was    exempted    from    the 
expiatory  or  sin  and  trespass  offerings  by  the  cross 
of  Christ,  but  it  was  not  relieved  of  the   burnt  and 
peace   offerings,    the   former   of   which    required    that 
the  entire  carcass  of  the  victim  be  consumed  in  the 
flame  (Ex.  29 :  38-42 ;  Num.  28 :  3-8)  as  a  symbol  of  the 
entire   consecration   of  the  offerer  or  devotee  to   the 
service  of  God,  for  the  life  of  the  offering  stood  for 
his  own  life.*     Here,  then,  is  the  true  basis  or  foun- 
dation principle  on  which  the  faith-life  rests.    Here  is 
the  supreme  fundamental  law  which  must  govern  its 
every   action.     Though   the   purposes  and   motives  of 
its  sacrifice  may  be  changed  so  that  expiation  gives 
place  to  thanksgiving  and  communion,  yet  it  is  still 
essentially  and  intrinsically  a   consecrated,   sacrificial 
life,  and  is  as  far  removed  from  antinomianism  as  it 
was  when  under  the  Mosaic  law.     The  force  of  this 
marvelous    instruction    is    not    weakened,    but    rather 
strengthened,   by   being   couched    in    hortatory    form. 
Let  us  note,  in  passing,  the   continuousness  of  sac- 

*  "The  sincere  worshiper,  whether  Jew  or  Gentile,  saw  in  the  sacri- 
fice which  he  presented  on  the  altar  a  symbol  of  his  own  self-devotion. 
This  symbolic  purpose  determined  the  choice  of  the  proper  material 
for  an  altar-sacrifice:  it  must  represent  the  offerer's  life.  For  this 
reason  in  all  the  chief  sacrifices,  it  must  be  itself  a  living  creature: 
and  in  every  case,  without  exception,  it  must  be  the  offerer's  own  lawful 
property,  the  fruit  of  his  life-work,  and  also  fit,  as  food,  for  the  sup- 
port of  his  life.  In  presenting  such  a  sacrifice  the  worshiper  was  present- 
ing a  portion  of  his  own  life  as  a  symbol  of  the  whole      {Gtfford). 


BASIS    OF    THE    FAITH-LIFE  487  ' 

rifice  implied  by  the  term  "living."  The  animal  sac- 
rifice was  over  and  ended  when  its  body  was  con- 
sumed. If  perfect  and  accepted  as  without  blemish, 
then  (Deut.  15:21;  17:1;  Lev.  1 :  3,  10;  3 :  1 ;  22  :  20; 
Mai.  1:8),  it  had  passed  all  danger  or  possibility  of 
future  rejection  at  God's  hands.  But  not  so  the  Chris- 
tian's sacrifice.  In  presenting  himself  he  is  to  "reckon 
himself  dead  unto  sin,  but  alive  unto  God  in  Christ 
Jesus"  (6:11-13).  For  the  Christian's  dying  leads  at 
once  to  his  being  alive  (6:2;  7:4;  Gal.  2 :  19,  20;  Col. 
2:20;  3:5-10;  1  Pet.  2:5),  and  therefore,  as  Bengel 
says,  "it  is  an  abomination  to  offer  a  dead  carcass." 
The  Christian,  therefore,  as  a  living,  never-to-be- 
recalled  sacrifice,  is  required  to  keep  up  and  perpetuate 
his  holiness  and  acceptability,  as  "an  odor  of  a  sweet 
smell"  (Eph.  5:2;  Phil.  4:18;  Lev.  1:9),  lest  he  be- 
come a  castaway.  For  this  reason  Paul  lays  emphasis 
on  the  "body,"  as  the  corpus  or  substance  of  the  sac- 
rifice, for  our  fleshly  nature  is  spoken  of  in  Scripture 
as  the  seat  of  sin,  which  is  to  be  transformed  into  a 
temple  for  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit  (1  Cor. 
6:  19,  20).  Moreover,  this  direct  reference  to  the  body 
corrects  the  heresy  that  the  faith-life  is  purely  mental 
or  spiritual,  and  devoid  of  bodily  sacrifice  or  works 
(Gal.  5:  13;  Jas.  2: 14-26).  "How,"  asks  Chrysostom, 
"can  the  body  become  a  sacrifice?  Let  the  eye  look 
on  no  evil,  and  it  is  a  sacrifice.  Let  the  tongue  utter 
nothing  base,  and  it  is  an  offering.  Let  the  hand 
work  no  sin,  and  it  is  a  holocaust.  But  more,  this 
suffices  not,  but,  besides,  we  must  actively  exert  our- 
selves for  good ;  the  hand  giving  alms,  the  mouth 
blessing  them  that  curse  us,  the  ear  ever  at  leisure 
for  listening  to  God."  Moreover,  the  sacrifice  of  the 
body  includes  that  of  mind,  soul  and  spirit,  for  "bodily 
sacrifice  is  an  ethical  act"  (Meyer).  The  comment  of 
Barnes  on  this  verse  is  very  practical.  "Men,"  says 
he,  "are  not  to  invent  services;  or  to  make  crosses; 
or  seek  persecutions  and  trials;  or  provoke  opposi- 
tion." Romish  and  Mohammedan  pilgrimages.  Cath- 
olic and   Oriental  penances,   thorn-beds,  juggernauts, 


488  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

flagellations,  and  man-made  ordinances  of  sacrifice, 
are  worthless  (Col.  2  :  20-23).  Moreover,  the  designs  of 
many  to  wait  till  sickness  or  old  age  overtakes  them 
before  presenting  their  sacrifice  are  misplaced,  for  such 
conduct  is  analogous  to  presenting  the  maimed  and 
halt  and  blind  to  God.  Finally,  it  is  taught  elsewhere, 
and  so  it  is  indeed  true  that  the  Christian's  sacrifice 
is  a  "spiritual  [pneumatike]  service"  (Phil.  3:3;  1  Pet. 
2 :  5 ;  cf.  John  4 :  24),  but  the  apostle  has  here  conveyed 
that  idea  in  the  word  ''living,"  and  he  does  not  repeat 
the  thought.  Hence  he  does  not  say  pneiimatiken 
service,  but  logiken  service,  or,  literally,  logical  or 
rational  service.  Logiken  links  itself  with  ''therefore" 
at  the  opening  of  the  sentence.  Therefore  your 
logical  service  (the  one  rationally  expected  of  you  by 
reason  of  the  truths  revealed  in  this  Epistle,  especially 
chapter  6)  is  to  present  your  bodies,  etc.  In  short, 
the  very  purpose  for  which  the  apostle  wrote  this 
Epistle  was  to  convince  his  readers  that  they  must 
render  this  service,  and  this  exhortation  enforces 
that  conclusion.]  2  And  be  not  fashioned  according 
to  this  world  [or,  literally,  "age"]  :  but  be  ye  trans- 
formed by  the  renewing  of  your  mind,  that  ye  may 
prove  what  is  the  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect 
will  of  God.  [Here  the  apostle  shows  in  general 
terms  by  what  manner  of  life  the  demanded  sacrifice 
is  rendered  or  accomplished.  To  each  soul  there  was 
presented  then,  as  now,  two  models  for  character- 
building,  the  standards  of  the  world-life  and  the  Christ- 
life,  the  first  represented  by  the  imperative  suschema- 
tizesthai,  which  means  to  imitate  the  pose  or  attitude 
of  any  one,  to  conform  to  the  outward  appearance  or 
fashion  of  any  one.  The  demands  of  the  world  re- 
quire no  more  than  an  outward,  superficial  conformity 
to  its  ways  and  customs.  As  these  ways  and  customs 
are  the  natural  actions  and  methods  of  the  unre- 
generate  life,  the  sacrifice-resenting,  fleshly  nature  of 
the  Christian  has  no  difficulty  in  conforming  to  them, 
if  given  rein  and  permission.  Attainment  to  the 
Christ-life  is,  however,  represented  by  the  imperative 


BASIS    OF    THE    FAITH-LIFE  489 

metamorphousthai,  which  demands  that  complete  and 
fundamental  inner  change  which  fulfills  and  accom- 
plishes regeneration,  and  which,  in  turn,  is  accom- 
plished by  the  renewing  of  the  mind.  The  natural 
mind,  weakened,  trammeled,  confused  and  darkened 
by  sin  and  Satan,  can  neither  fully  discern  nor  ade- 
quately appreciate  the  Christ  model,  so  as  to  meta- 
morphose the  life  to  its  standards.  But  in  the  re- 
generated man  the  mind  once  fleshly  (Col.  2:18; 
Rom.  7:23),  but  now  renewed  by  Christ  (2  Cor.  5: 
17;  Eph.  4:21-24)  and  the  Holy  Spirit  (Tit.  3:5),  and 
strengthened  to  apprehend  by  the  Holy  Spirit  (Eph. 
3:16-19),  is  able  to  so  discern  and  love  the  Christ 
model  as  to  be  gradually  metamorphosed  into  his 
image  (Phil.  3:8-16).  With  this  recovered  capacity 
to  discern  and  appreciate  the  life  which  God  wills 
us  to  live,  as  exemplified  in  the  incarnation  of  his 
Son,  we  are  exhorted  by  the  apostle  to  set  about  ex- 
ploring, investigating,  proving  or  testing  the  excel- 
lence of  the  will  of  God  in  selecting  such  a  pattern 
for  us,  that  we  may  have  experimental  knowledge 
that  his  will  was  devised  in  goodness  toward  us,  that 
its  choice  for  us  is  really  well  pleasing  and  acceptable 
to  us ;  as  our  minds  have  become  enlightened  to  truly 
understand  it,  and  that  considered  in  all  ways  its  pur- 
poses and  ends  for  us  are  the  perfection  of  grace  and 
benevolence,  leaving  nothing  more  to  be  asked  or 
even  dreamed  of  by  us.  Thus  the  renewed  mind 
tests  by  experience  the  will  of  God,  and  knows  it  to 
be  indeed  the  will  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  (John 
7:17),  to  be  admired,  followed  and  reduced  to  life. 
It  remains  to  be  shown  how  the  word  "age"  comes 
to  be  translated  "world."  The  Jews  divided  time 
into  two  divisions;  viz.,  before  the  Messiah,  and  after 
the  advent  of  the  Messiah.  The  former  they  called 
"this  age";  the  latter,  "the  age  to  come."  Thus  the 
term  "this  age"  became  associated  with  those  evils, 
vanities  and  Satanic  workings  which  the  Christian 
now  calls  "this  world."  Both  terms  are  used  by 
Jesus   (Matt.  12:32.     Comp.  Heb.  6:5),  and  the  ex- 


490  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

pression  "this  age"  is  commonly  used  after  the  advent 
of  Jesus  to  describe  the  moral  and  spiritual  condi- 
tions which  then  and  still  oppose  Christ  and  the  age 
which  he  is  developing  (Matt.  13:22;  Luke  16:8; 
20:34;  1  Cor.  1:20;  2:6;  2  Cor.  4:4;  Gal.  1:4;  Eph. 
6:12;  2  Tim.  4:10;  Tit.  2:12). 


II. 

THE    FAITH-LIFE    OPERATING    IN    CHURCH 
AFFAIRS    IN    HUMILITY. 

12 :  3-8. 

[Having  defined  the  faith-life  as  sacrificial  and 
sanctified,  the  apostle  next  points  out  the  principal 
virtues  which  it  must  manifest  in  the  several  spheres 
of  its  activities.  The  first  sphere  is  the  church,  and 
the  first  virtue  enjoined  therein  is  humility.]  3  For  I 
say  ["For"  is  epexigetical ;  i.  e.,  it  introduces  matter 
which  further  explains  or  elucidates  the  nature  of  the 
required  living  sacrifice;  viz.,  that  the  Christian  must 
humble  himself.  "I  say"  is  mildly  imperative], 
through  [by  right  or  authority  of]  the  grace  [the 
apostleship  in  Christ — 1:5;  15:15,  16;  Eph.  3:7,  8] 
that  was  given  me,  to  every  man  that  is  among  you 
[As  apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  Paul  divided  his  duties 
into  evangelistic  and  didactic.  In  discharge  of  the 
former  he  founded  churches,  and  in  fulfillment  of  the 
latter  we  find  him  here  instructing  a  church  which 
he  did  not  found.  He  addresses  his  instruction  to 
each  member  without  exception,  and  though  his  words 
in  this  section  are  more  particularly  meant  for  the 
more  gifted,  they  also  have  the  man  with  one  talent 
in  mind,  and  make  allowance  for  no  drones  in  the 
hive.  "Among  you"  means  "in  your  community" 
— Meyer]y  not  to  think  of  himself  more  highly  than 
he  ought  to  think;  but  so  to  think  as  to  think  soberly 
[It  is  evident  that  Paul  anticipated  a  spirit  of  pre- 


HUMILITY  491 

sumption  among  the  Christians  at  Rome,  by  reason 
of  their  spiritual  gifts,  Hke  that  which  he  rebuked  at 
Corinth  (1  Cor.  12  and  14).  It  is  well  known  that 
for  the  guidance,  edification,  etc.,  of  the  church,  and 
for  the  converting  of  the  world,  spiritual  gifts 
abounded  among  Christians  in  that  age,  and  many 
of  these  were  markedly  supernatural  or  miraculous. 
These  latter  were  well  calculated  to  excite  a  false 
pride  in  the  vainglorious  pagans,  so  recently  converted 
to  Christ.  As  such  pride  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  and  prompts  the  one  yielding  to  it  to  save  his 
life  for  the  ends  of  ambition,  rather  than  to  offer  it 
as  a  living  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  service,  Paul  first 
sets  himself  to  correct  it,  by  commanding  each  to  give 
to  himself  that  sober,  fair  self-inspection  which  will 
correct  overestimates  of  self  and  underestimates  of 
one's  neighbor],  according  as  God  hath  dealt  to  each 
man  a  measure  of  faith.  [Here  was  another  check 
to  pride.  Sober  thought  would  remind  the  proud  and 
puffed  up  that  the  miraculous  gifts  were  not  of  their 
ozvn  acquiring,  but  were  gifts  of  God,  and  were  there- 
fore matters  for  gratitude  rather  than  for  vainglory 
(comp.  1  Cor.  4:6,  7;  12:11);  stewardships  to  be 
carefully  and  conscientiously  administered  for  the 
benefit  of  the  church  and  not  for  selfish  display  and 
aggrandizement.  "Measure  of  faith"  is  an  expositor's 
puzzle.  As  saving  faith  is  belief  in  testimony,  it  is 
the  product  of  a  man's  own  action,  and  God  does  not 
deal  it  out,  or  give  it  to  any  one.  If  he  did,  how 
could  he  consistently  condemn  men  for  the  lack  of 
it  (Mark  16:  16),  or  how  could  he  exhort  men  to  be- 
lieve (John  20 :  27)  ?  But  even  those  whose  theolog- 
ical errors  permit  them  to  look  upon  faith  as  a 
gift,  are  still  in  a  quandary,  for  Paul  is  evidently 
talking  about  measure  of  gifts,  and  not  measure  of 
saving  faith,  and  the  passage  parallels  1  Cor.  12:11; 
Eph.  4:  7.  Barnes  says  that  faith  here  means  religion. 
Hodge,  hitting  nearer  truth,  says  that  faith  is  used 
metonymically  for  its  effects;  viz.,  the  various  graces 
or   gifts   mentioned :   ''that  which  is  confided  to   any, 


492  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

and  equivalent  to  gift''  Brown  declares  that  it  is 
"the  receptive  faculty  of  the  renewed  soul,  the  capac- 
ity to  take  gifts."  Godet  assigns  it  "the  capacity 
assigned  to  each  man  in  the  domain  of  faith."  These, 
and  many  similar  passages  which  might  be  quoted, 
show  that  expositors  are  forced  to  recognize  that 
faith  here  is  employed  in  a  very  unusual  sense,  which 
is  near  akin  to  miraculous  gifts.  Now,  as  sound  ex- 
egesis compels  us  to  distinguish  between  the  natural, 
perpetual  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  bestowed  upon  every 
penitent  believer  at  his  baptism,  and  that  miraculous 
gift  which  descended  on  the  apostles  at  Pentecost 
and  on  the  house  of  Cornelius,  which  passed  away  in 
the  apostolic  age ;  so  we  would  here  distinguish  be- 
tween natural,  saving  faith  which  is  the  possession 
of  each  Christian  to  this  present  hour,  and  miraculous 
faith,  or  faith  which  had  power  to  work  miracles, 
which  was  unquestionably  dealt  out  as  here  described, 
so  that  different  miraculous  powers  were  displayed 
by  difterent  Christians.  It  was  of  this  faith  that 
Jesus  spoke  at  Matt.  17:20;  Luke  17:6,  for  had  he 
meant  the  saving  faith  now  possessed  by  us,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  none  of  us  possess  a  mustard-seed  measure 
of  it.  This  special,  divinely  bestowed  (comp.  Luke  17: 
5),  miraculous  faith  also  vanished  with  the  apostolic 
age.]  4  For  [also  epexigetical.  See  verse  3]  even 
as  we  have  many  members  in  one  body,  and  all  the 
members  have  not  the  same  office:  5  so  we,  who  are 
many,  are  one  body  in  Christ,  and  severally  members 
one  of  another.  [As  God  gives  to  each  member  of 
the  human  body  its  several  function  for  the  good  of 
the  whole  body,  so  he  distributed  the  miraculous  gifts 
of  the  Spirit  to  the  different  members  of  the  Roman 
church  for  the  good  of  the  whole  church.  The  gifts 
were  intended  to  be  held  in  common,  so  that  each 
member  should  contribute  to  the  needs  of  all  the 
others,  and  in  return  receive  from  all  the  others  in 
mutual  helpfulness  and  interdependence.  Difference 
in  office  or  function,  therefore,  was  not  a  matter  for 
pride  or  boasting,  for  the  gift  was  held  in  trust  for 


HUMILITY  493 

service,  and  was  a  gift  to  the  whole  body,  through  the 
individual  member.  There  is  no  room  for  comparison 
or  pride  between  the  related  members  of  one  living 
organism.  This  comparison  of  the  relationship  of 
Christians  to  the  mutual  dependence  of  the  members 
of  the  human  body  is  a  favorite  one  with  Paul,  and 
he  elaborates  it  at  1  Cor.  12:4-31  and  Eph.  4:1-16. 
See  also  Eph.  4:25;  5:30.]  6  And  having  gifts  dif- 
fering according  to  the  grace  that  was  given  to  us, 
whether  prophecy,  let  us  prophesy  according  to  the 
proportion  of  our  faith  [It  would  be  as  unreasonable 
and  unwise  to  give  all  Christians  the  same  gift  as  it 
would  be  to  give  all  the  members  of  the  body  the 
same  function.  Since,  then,  the  gifts  had  to  differ, 
and  since  God  dealt  them  out,  each  member  was  to 
exercise  humbly  and  contentedly  that  gift  which  God 
had  portioned  out  to  him,  whether,  compared  with 
others,  proportionately  large  or  small,  important  or 
unimportant,  for  should  the  ear  stubbornly  refuse  to 
hear,  and  set  up  a  determined  effort  to  smell  or  to 
see,  it  would  produce  anarchy  in  the  body.  Let  each 
Christian,  therefore,  retain  the  place  and  station  and 
discharge  the  work  which  God  has  designated  as  his 
by  the  proportion  of  faith,  a  miracle-working  power, 
assigned  to  him.  The  power  of  Christ,  operating 
through  the  Holy  Spirit,  awoke  in  Christians  talents 
and  endowments  unexampled  in  the  world's  history. 
The  greatest  of  these  were  bestowed  upon  the  apos- 
tles. The  next  in  order  of  importance  were  the  gifts 
bestowed  upon  the  prophet  (1  Cor.  12:28;  14:29-32, 
39).  His  gift  was  that  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
which  enabled  him  to  proclaim  the  divine  truth,  and 
make  known  the  will  and  purpose  of  God,  etc.,  whether 
as  to  past,  present  or  future  events.  His  work  was 
supplementary  to  that  of  the  apostles,  and  was  greatly 
needed  in  the  days  when  the  New  Testament  was  but 
partly  written,  and  when  even  what  was  written  was 
not  yet  diffused  among  the  churches.  Eventually  the 
prophet  ceased  (1  Cor.  13:8,  9)  and  the  Scripture 
took  his  place.     In  his  day  he  was  as  the  mouth  of 


494  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

God  (Ex.  7:1;  4:16;  Jer.  15:19;  Deut.  18:18);  he 
delivered  a  divine  message  at  first-hand  (Ezek.  2:7- 
10;  3:4-11;  Luke  7:26-29)  and  was  inspired  of 
God— 1  Pet.  1:10-12;  Acts  2:2-4;  2  Pet.  1:19-21];  7 
or  ministry,  let  us  give  ourselves  to  our  ministry ;  or 
he  that  teacheth,  to  his  teaching  [Most  of  the  spiritual 
gifts  of  Paul's  day  were  either  wholly  supernatural 
or  shaded  into  the  miraculous,  and,  as  miracles  have 
ceased,  it  becomes  hard  for  us  to-day  to  accurately 
define  gifts  which  have  passed  away.  "Ministry" 
{diakonia)  is  derived  from  the  Greek  word  for  deacon, 
and  probably  described  such  services  as  deacons 
(Phil.  1:1;  Rom.  16:1)  then  rendered.  The  order, 
''apostles,  prophets,  teachers,  miracles,  then  gifts  of 
healings,  helps,  governments"  (1  Cor.  12:28),  com- 
pared with  the  order  here — viz.,  prophecy,  ministry, 
teaching,  exhorting,  giving — suggests  that  miracles  of 
healing  may  have  been  part  of  the  ministry  (comp. 
1  Pet.  4:  11),  as  well  as  caring  for  the  poor,  serving 
tables,  etc.  (Acts  6:1-6;  1  Tim.  3:8-13).  Teaching 
was  probably  much  the  same  as  that  of  to-day,  only 
the  teacher  had  to  remember  the  verbal  instruction 
of  the  apostles  and  prophets  (2  Thess.  2:15;  2  Tim. 
1:13;  2:2;  3 :  10,  14)  until  the  same  was  reduced  to 
writing  as  we  now  have  it  in  the  Scriptures]  ;  8  or  he 
that  exhorteth,  to  his  exhorting:  he  that  giveth,  let 
him  do  it  ^ith  liberality  [Exhortation  is  addressed  to 
the  feeling  as  teaching  is  to  the  understanding.  It  is 
used  to  stir  or  excite  people,  whether  of  the  church 
or  not,  to  do  their  duty.  As  endowed  or  spiritually 
gifted  Christians  of  that  day  spoke  with  tongues  (1 
Cor.  12  and  14),  both  the  teacher  and  the  exhorter 
would  be  properly  classed  as  among  the  workers  of 
miracles.  After  mentioning  the  exhorter,  Paul  drops 
the  word  ''or"  (eite),  and  thus  seems  to  make  a 
distinction  between  the  workers  of  miracles  whom  he 
has  been  admonishing,  and  the  class  of  workers  who 
follow,  who  evidently  had  no  miraculous  power  what- 
ever. "Liberality"  (haplotes)  signifies  "the  disposition 
not  to  turn  back  on  oneself;  and  it  is  obvious  that 


HUMILITY  495 

from  this  first  meaning-  there  may  follow  either  that 
of  generosity,  when  a  man  gives  without  letting  him- 
self be  arrested  by  any  selfish  calculation ;  or  that  of 
simplicity,  when  he  gives  without  his  left  hand  know- 
ing what  his  right  hand  does — that  is  to  say,  without 
any  vain  going  back  on  himself,  and  without  any 
air  of  haughtiness"  (Godet).  The  word  may  be  cor- 
rectly translated  objectively  ''liberality"  (2  Cor.  8: 
2;  9:11;  9:  13;  Jas.  1:5);  but,  used  subjectively  and 
more  naturally,  it  signifies  singleness  of  purpose, 
simplicity,  sincerity  (Matt.  6:22;  Luke  11:34;  2  Cor. 
1:12;  11:3;  Eph.  6:5;  Col.  3 :  22) .  The  latter  mean- 
ing is  clearly  indicated  here  by  the  context,*  for 
Paul  is  rebuking  ostentation  (comp.  Matt.  6 :  1-4) 
and  enforcing  humility,  sober  self-thought,  subjective 
investigation,  simplicity.  The  giving  was  to  be  with 
honesty  of  aim,  without  ulterior  or  personal  or  selfish 
motive];  he  that  ruleth,  with  diligence;  he  that 
showeth  mercy,  with  cheerfulness.  [Whether  they 
ruled  as  elders  and  deacons'  in  the  church,  or  as 
parents  at  home  (1  Tim.  3:3-5,  12),  they  were  to 
do  so  with  a  spirit  of  zealous  attention  to  the  work 
entrusted  to  them,  not  with  a  vainglorious  desire 
to  lord  it,  or  to  exalt  or  enrich  themselves  (1  Thess. 
5:12,  13;  1  Tim.  3:4,  5,  12;  5:17;  1  Pet.  5:1-4). 
Showing  mercy  is  probably  best  defined  at  Matt.  25 : 
35,  36.  Paul  here  directs  that  these  acts  be  per- 
formed with  cheerfulness.  The  context  shows  that 
he  means  inward  joy,  not  outward  simulation  of  it; 
for   the    whole   passage    is    subjective,    not   objective. 


*  We  are  decidedly  averse  to  criticizing  or  correcting  the  text  of  the 
English  Revised  Version,  not  wishing  to  breed  suspicious  unrest  in  the 
minds  of  its  readers.  But  we  can  not  but  feel  that  occasionally  the  trans- 
lators yield  to  the  strong  temptation  to_  choose  the  English  word  which  can 
be  understood  at  once  without  the  aid  of  the  commentator,  whether  it 
conveys  the  shade  of  meaning  desired  by  the  Scripture  writer  or  not. 
(Compare  note  on  "spiritual,"  Rom.  12:  1.)  In  such  cases  we  have  pointed 
out  the  looseness  of  the  translators.  "Give  much!"  is  the  urgent  cry  of 
this  age,  and  it  is  thoroughly  Scriptural;  but  the  Spirit,  speaking  through 
Paul,  also  said,  "Give  in  simplicity" — i.  e.,  in  meekness — and  the  command 
must  not  be  lost  sight  of,  simply  to  effect  an  easy  translation.  Perhaps 
this  age  needs  the  latter  command  more  than  the  former;  for,  as  Caryl 
observes,  "you  must  rather  bring  your  graces  to  the  touchstone,  to  try 
their  truth,  than  to  the  balance,  to  weigh  their  measure." 


496  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

(Comp.  2  Cor.  9:7.)  Cheer,  like  love,  must  be  with- 
out hypocrisy,  for  the  one  showing  mercy  has  the 
better  end  of  the  blessing  (Acts  20:  35).  The  purpose 
of  the  entire  passage  is  to  enforce  the  spirit  of  con- 
tented humility  upon  Christians  in  all  their  actions, 
lest  those  having  superior  gifts  be  thereby  betrayed 
into  pride  and  self-exaltation,  and  those  having  in- 
ferior gifts  be  seduced  by  envy  to  fall  into  bitterness 
of  spirit  or  idleness.  "In  the  school  of  Christ,"  says 
Leighton,  "the  first  lesson  of  all  is,  self-denial  and 
humility;  yea,  it  is  written  above  the  door,  as  the 
rule  of  entry  or  admission,  'Learn  of  me,  for  I  am 
meek  and  lowly  in  heart/  " 


III. 

THE    FAITH-LIFE    OPERATING    IN    CHURCH 

AND  SOCIAL  AFFAIRS  IN   LOVE  AND 

OTHER   HEAVENLY   VIRTUES. 

12:9-2L 

[In  the  last  section  we  were  told  that  spiritual 
and  remarkable  gifts  are  to  be  exercised  in  humility. 
This  section  deals  with  the  ordinary  and  natural 
gifts,  and  is  therefore  addressed  to  the  whole  church. 
It  shows  that  these  ordinary,  natural  gifts  or  facul- 
ties are  to  be  employed  in  harmony  with  the  other 
Christian  graces  and  virtues,  the  principal  or  basic 
one  of  which  is  love.  Therefore  we  may  roughly 
subdivide  the  section  as  follows:  1.  The  faith-life 
showing  love  to  the  friendly  or  Christian  (9-16).  2. 
The  faith-life  showing  love  to  the  unfriendly  or  un- 
christian— 17-2L]  9  Let  love  be  without  hypocrisy. 
[The  apostle  opens  this  section  with  a  call  for  pure, 
genuine  love,  for  it  is  the  common  or  fundamental 
element  of  all  the  virtues  of  which  he  is  about  to 
write.  This  love  must  be  unfeigned  (2  Cor.  6:6; 
1  Pet.  1:22;  1  John  3:18).     The  heart  must  really 


LOVE    AND    OTHER    VIRTUES  497 

feel  that  measure  of  affection  to  which  the  conduct 
bears  testimony.  The  Christian  must  not  bear  him- 
self ''like  Judas  to  Christ,  or  Joab  to  Abner:  a  kiss 
and  a  stab" — Johnson.]  Abhor  [literally,  "abhor- 
ring"] that  which  is  evil;  cleave  [literally,  "cleav- 
ing"] to  that  which  is  good.  [The  participles  relate 
grammatically  to  "love"  as  their  subject,  and  explain 
the  two  main  ways  in  which  an  unfeigned  love  is 
required  to  operate.  Love  is  not  up  to  the  required 
standard  unless  it  abhors  evil  and  cleaves  to  (literally, 
glues  itself  to)  that  which  is  good.  "What  a  lofty 
tone  of  moral  principle  and  feeling  is  here  inculcated ! 
It  is  not.  Abstain  from  the  one  and  do  the  other; 
nor,  Turn  away  from  the  one  and  draw  to  the  other; 
but,  Abhor  the  one  and  cling  with  deepest  sympathy 
to  the  other"  (Broztm).  Objectively  it  must  hate 
evil  even  in  the  character  of  a  loved  one,  and  not 
fall  into  Eli's  sin  (1  Sam.  3:13);  and  it  must  cling 
to  the  good,  even  in  an  enemy,  and  rejoice  to  in- 
crease it.  Otherwise  love  is  mere  selfishness.  "There 
are,"  says  Lard,  "many  Christians,  and  among  them 
many  preachers,  who  oppose  evil,  it  is  true,  but  they 
do  it  so  faintly  as  virtually  to  countenance  it.  They 
will  not  publicly  endorse  evil ;  but  they  will  rather 
go  quietly  home,  or  get  out  of  its  way,  and  leave  it 
to  riot  unrebuked.  They  do  not  abhor  it.  .  .  . 
These  men  are  not  obeying  Paul."  Subjectively  the 
Christian's  love  will  make  him  abhor  in  himself  all 
retaliatory  and  revengeful  promptings,  all  injurious 
and  malicious  mental  suggestions  against  his  enemy, 
and  will  hug  to  his  heart  every  kind  and  generous 
and  benevolent  impulse,  whether  entertained  toward 
an  enemy  or  a  friend.  This  general  love  toward  all 
is  next  specialized,  and  love  toward  members  in  the 
church  is  thus  described.]  10  In  love  of  the  brethren 
be  tenderly  affectioned  one  to  another;  in  honor  pre- 
ferring one  another  ["tenderly  affectioned"  is  a  word 
compounded  of  philos,  loving,  and  stergos,  which  is 
from  sfergeoo,  to  feel  natural  affection,  as  an  animal 
for  its  offspring,  a  parent  for  its  child,  a  near  relative 


498  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

for  his  close  kin.  Its  use  here  indicates  that  the 
church  tie  should  rival  that  of  the  family.  Christians 
should  love  each  other  "as  natural  brethren,  and 
more.  More  close  are  the  ties  of  the  heart  than  of 
the  body.  We  are  brethren  in  Adam  according  to 
the  flesh,  in  and  by  Christ  according  to  the  Spirit" 
(Trapp).  "Preferring"  means  going  before;  hence 
guiding,  setting  an  example.  In  matters  of  giving 
reverence,  respect,  and  causing  people  to  be  held 
high  in  public  estimation.  Christians  are  to  strive  to 
outdo  each  other.  The  idea  is  that  each  should  be 
more  eager  to  confer  honors  than  to  obtain  them. 
"Nothing,"  says  Chrysostom,  "tends  so  much  to 
make  friends  as  endeavoring  to  overcome  one's  neigh- 
bor in  doing  him  honor."  "The  Talmudists,"  accord- 
ing to  Bengel,  "say,  Whoever  knows  that  his  neigh- 
bor has  been  accustomed  to  salute  him,  should  antici- 
pate his  salutation"];  11  in  diligence  not  slothful; 
fervent  in  spirit;  serving  the  Lord  [These  three 
commands  refer  more  especially  to  the  outzvard  life 
of  the  Christian.  In  all  matters  of  employment, 
whether  religious  or  secular,  be  active  and  energetic 
(Eccl.  9:10),  let  your  activities  be  vital  with  enthu- 
siasm ("fervent"  means  seething,  boiling;  hence  stir- 
ring), for  life-service  is  Christ-service;  the  manifesta- 
tion of  love  toward  him  (Col.  3:22-24).  "Ever 
considering,"  says  Clark,  "that  his  eye  is  upon  you, 
and  that  you  are  accountable  to  him  for  all  that  you 
do,  and  that  you  should  do  everything  so  as  to  please 
him.  In  order  to  do  this  there  must  be  simplicity  in 
the  INTENTION,  and  purity  in  the  affection."  "To  be 
cold  and  careless  in  God's  service  disparages  his 
excellency,"  says  Burkitt]  ;  12  rejoicing  in  hope; 
patient  in  tribulation;  continuing  stedfastly  in  prayer 
[In  this  triplet  the  apostle  directs  the  manner  in 
which  the  Christian  life  is  to  inzvardly  manifest  its 
love  toward  God.  The  hopes  of  his  begetting  which 
make  bright  the  future  are  to  fill  it  with  joy;  the 
chastisements  of  his  sending  which  make  heavy  the 
present  are  to  be  endured  with   loyal,  unmurmuring 


LOVE   AND    OTHER    VIRTUES  499 

patience,  as  from  him  (Heb.  12:3-11),  and  both  hope 
and  patience  are  to  be  augmented  and  sustained  by 
prayer  which  grants  us  the  consolation  of  his  pres- 
ence. Persecutions  added  greatly  to  the  afflictions 
of  the  church  in  Paul's  day,  and  it  was  often  beyond 
expectation  that  the  Christian  should  rejoice  in  his 
present  circumstances,  but  he  could  always  be 
cheered  by  hope.  "By  patience,"  says  Burkitt,  "we 
possess  ourselves ;  by  hope  we  possess  God ;  by  prayer 
we  are  enabled  to  possess  both"]  ;  13  communicating 
to  the  necessities  of  the  saints;  given  to  hospitality. 
["Communicating"  (koinoonountes)  means,  literally, 
to  be  or  act  as  a  partner.  Sometimes  it  means  to 
receive  (15:27;  1  Pet.  4:13;  1  Tim.  5:22).  Here,  as 
in  Gal.  6:6,  it  means  to  bestow.  The  wants  and 
needs  of  God's  people  are  to  be  ours  to  the  extent 
of  our  ability.  This  precept  is  obeyed  by  very  few. 
"The  scanty  manner,"  says  Lard,  "in  which  the  rich 
disciples  of  the  present  day  share  the  wants  of  the 
poor,  is  a  sham.  From  their  thousands  they  dole 
out  dimes;  and  from  storehouses  full,  mete  out  hand- 
fuls.  .  .  .  Such  precepts  as  the  present  will,  in  the 
day  of  eternity,  prove  the  fatal  reef  on  which  many 
a  saintly  bark  has  stranded."  "Hospitality"  {philoxe- 
nid)  means,  literally,  "love  for  strangers."  It  is  often 
found  in  Biblical  precept  and  example  (Gen.  19:1, 
2;  Job  31:16,  17;  Matt.  10:40,  42;  25:43;  Luke  10: 
7;  11:5;  1  Tim.  5:10;  Tit.  1:8;  1  Pet.  4:9;  Heb. 
13:2).  In  apostolic  days  the  lack  of  hotels  made 
hospitality  imperative,  and  the  journeys,  missions 
and  exiles  of  Christians  gave  the  churches  constant 
opportunities  to  exercise  this  grace.  "Given"  (dioo- 
kontes)  means  to  pursue.  It  is  translated  "follow 
after"  (9:30,  31;  14:19).  The  idea  is  that  Christ's 
disciple  Is  not  to  passively  wait  till  hospitality  Is 
unavoidable,  but  he  Is  to  be  aggressively  hospitable, 
seeking  opportunity  to  entertain  strangers.  Hospi- 
tality is  not  to  be  limited  to  Christians,  and  Biblical 
hospitality  is  not  to  be  confused  with  that  so-called 
hospitality  which  bestows  lavish  entertainment  upon 


500  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

congenial  spirits  from  a  general  love  of  conviviality 
and  good  fellowship,  and  a  desire  for  reputation  as 
a  generous  host.  Biblical  hospitality  is  born  of  a 
desire  to  help  the  poor,  especially  the  godly  poor — 
Luke  1 :  53;  14:  12-14.]  14  Bless  them  that  persecute 
you;  bless,  and  curse  not.  ["Thus,"  says  Johnson, 
"did  Christ  on  the  cross,  and  the  martyred  Stephen." 
The  apostle  here  drops  into  the  imperative  because 
quoting  from  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (Matt.  5: 
44:  Luke  6:28).  We  v^ould  expect  to  find  this  com- 
mand classified  among  duties  to  persons  entirely 
outside  the  church,  but  the  apostle's  life  reminds  us 
that  cursings  were  apt  to  come  from  those  inside  as 
well  as  from  those  without  (2  Cor.  11:26).  "This 
doubling  of  the  exhortation  (bless)  shows  both  the 
difficulty  of  the  duty,  how  contrary  it  is  to  corrupt 
nature,  and  also  the  constancy  of  the  duty;  we  must 
ever  bless,  and  never  curse"  (Bnrkitt).  Love  must 
win  this  battle  for  our  untrue  brother's  sake.]  15 
Rejoice  with  them  that  rejoice  [1  Cor.  12:26]  ;  weep 
with  them  that  weep.  ["One  might  think,"  says 
Chrysostom,  "it  was  no  difficult  task  to  rejoice  with 
others.  But  it  is  harder  than  to  weep  with  them.  For 
that  is  done  even  by  the  natural  man  when  he  be- 
holds a  friend  in  distress.  There  is  need  of  grace, 
however,  to  enable  us,  not  merely  to  abstain  from 
envying,  but  even  with  all  our  hearts  to  rejoice  at 
the  good  fortune  of  a  friend."  Love  is  to  bind  us 
to  God's  people  in  full  sympathy,  both  in  their  pros- 
perity and  adversity.]  16  Be  of  the  same  mind  one 
toward  another.  [A  general  repetition  of  the  special 
command  just  given.  Enter  into  the  mind  or  feeling 
of  your  brother,  whether  in  joy  or  sorrow.  In  the 
mental  and  sentimental  sphere  keep  the  Golden  Rule 
with  him.]  Set  not  your  mind  on  high  things,  but 
condescend  to  things  that  are  lowly.  [Luke  12:15. 
This  injunction  also  has  loving  concord  for  its  object. 
Class  distinctions,  high  positions,  situations,  social 
eminence,  etc.,  are  to  be  avoided  as  tending  to  sever 
your    sympathies,    interests    and    desires    from    your 


LOVE    AND    OTHER    VIRTUES  501 

humble  brethren.  "The  greatest  enemy  to  concord  is 
pride"  (Tholuck).  Christ  was  meek,  and  we  should 
be  like  the  Master.  Avoid  such  things  as  lead  one 
"to  flatter  the  great,  to  court  the  rich,  and  be  servile 
to  the  mighty"  (Pliivier).  It  is  a  question  whether 
we  should  here  read  "lowly  things,"  or  "lowly 
people."  Either  reading  is  correct,  and  commentators 
are  about  equally  divided  on  the  point.  Meyer,  who 
favors  the  neuter,  reads :  "Yielding  to  that  which  is 
humble,  to  the  claims  and  tasks  which  are  presented 
to  you  by  the  humbler  relations  of  life."  He  illus- 
trates by  Paul's  following  the  trade  of  tentmaker. 
Against  this,  Gifford  says:  "The  adjective  tapeinos 
(lowly)  is  used  in  the  New  Testament  frequently  of 
persons,  never  of  things.  It  is  better,  therefore,  to 
follow  the  same  usage  here,  and  understand  it  of 
lowly  persons  as  in  the  Authorized  Version."  But 
Paul  doubtless  used  the  adjective  in  its  fullest  sense, 
combining  both  persons  and  things,  making  it,  as  it 
were,  a  double  command ;  for  he  wished  his  readers  to 
do  all  things  needful  to  keep  them  in  brotherly 
accord.  If  we  keep_in  touch  with  the  lowly,  we 
must  yield  ourselves  to  be  interested  in  their  lowly 
affairs ;  and  if  we  keep  our  hearts  warm  toward 
humble  things,  we  will  find  ourselves  in  sympathy 
with  humble  people.  So  even  if  the  command  be 
made  single,  it  will  either  way  affect  the  double 
result  of  a  double  command,  and  without  the  double 
result  either  command  would  be  insufificient.  "Honor 
all  your  fellow-Christians,  and  that  alike,"  says 
Chalmers,  "on  the  around  of  their  common  and 
exalted  prospects.  When  on  this  high  level,  do  not 
plume  yourselves  on  the  insignificant  distinctions  of 
your  superior  wealth  or  superior  earthly  consideration 
of  whatever  sort."  Moreover,  let  your  condescension 
be  invisible :  let  it  be  so  hid  in  love  that  no  one,  not 
even  yourself,  is  conscious  of  its  presence,  for  con- 
descension without  love  is  as  spittle  without  healing 
— John  9:6.]  Be  not  wise  in  yiur  own  conceits. 
[Prov.   7\2>.      Setting   our   hearts   on   high   things    as 

83 


502  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

our  proper  sphere,  and  despising  lowly  things  as 
unworthy  of  our  lofty  notice,  begets  in  us  a  false 
idea  of  our  own  importance  and  wisdom,  and  a  con- 
ceited spirit  full  of  pride  and  vanity.  This  is  the 
besetting  sin  of  those  having  large  mental  endowment 
— those  whom  the  world  counts  wise.  The  culmi- 
nation of  this  self-conceit  is  that  spirit  which  even 
cavils  at  God's  precepts,  and  lightly  criticizes  and 
rejects  his  revelation.  The  proper  spirit  before  God 
is  childlike,  teachable  (Matt.  18:1-4;  Mark  10:15), 
and  it  is  better  to  be  wise  in  the  sight  of  the  all-wise 
God  than  to  be  a  Solomon  in  your  own  foolish  esti- 
mation. As  conceit  grows,  love  ebbs,  and  all  loveless 
life  is  profitless  (1  Cor.  13:  1,  2).  We  now  approach 
a  sphere  of  duties  relating  to  forbearance  in  perse- 
cution, and  life-relations  outside  the  church.]  17 
Render  to  no  man  evil  for  evil.  [Quoted  from  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  (Matt.  5:38-48).  The  precept 
bids  us  reject  the  lex  talionis,  and  live  contrary  to  it: 
it  commands  us  to  eschew  both  the  spirit  and  prac- 
tice of  vindictiveness.  *'The  heathen,"  says  Burkitt, 
"reckoned  revenge  as  a  part  of  justice,"  but  the 
Christian  must  look  on  justice  as  subservient  to 
love.]  Take  thought  for  things  honorable  in  the 
sight  of  all  men.  [Prov.  3:4,  LXX.  Give  no  cause 
for  suspicion  or  offense,  but  disarm  all  enmity  by 
open,  fair-minded  dealing.  Let  your  light  shine 
(Matt.  5:16).  Let  men  note  what  company  you 
keep  (Acts  4:13).  ""Not  letting  habits,  talk,  ex- 
penses," says  ]\Ioule,  "drift  into  inconsistency;  watch- 
ing with  open  and  considerate  eyes  against  what 
others  may  fairly  think  to  be  unchristian  in  you. 
Here  is  no  counsel  of  cowardice,  no  recommendation 
of  slavery  to  a  public  opinion  which  may  be  alto- 
p-ether  wrong.  It  is  a  precept  of  loyal  jealousy  for 
the  heavenly  Master's  honor.  His  servant  is  to  be 
nobly  indifferent  to  the  world's  thought  and  word 
when  he  is  sure  that  God  and  the  world  antagonize. 
But  he  is  to  be  sensitively  attentive  to  the  world's 
observation  where  the  v/orld,  more  or  less  acquainted 


LOVE    AND    OTHER    VIRTUES  503 

with  the  Christian  precept  or  principle,  and  more  or 
less  conscious  of  its  truth  and  right,  is  watching 
maliciously,  or  it  may  be  wistfully,  to  see  if  it  gov- 
erns the  Christian's  practice.  In  view  of  this,  the 
man  will  never  be  content  even  with  the  satisfaction 
of  his  own  conscience ;  he  will  set  himself,  not  only 
to  do  right,  but  to  be  seen  to  do  it.  He  will  not 
only  be  true  to  a  monetary  trust,  for  example ;  he 
will  take  care  that  the  proofs  of  his  fidelity  shall  be 
open.  He  will  not  only  mean  well  toward  others; 
he  will  take  "^care  that  his  manner  and  bearing,  his 
dealings  and  intercourse  shall  unmistakably  breathe 
the  Christian  air."]  18  If  it  be  possible,  as  much  as 
in  you  lieth,  be  at  peace  with  all  men.  -[It  takes  izvo 
to  live  at  peace.  So  far  as  the  Christian  is  concerned, 
the  rule  of  peace  is  absolute.  He  must  stir  up  no 
needless  opposition,  he  must  avoid  every  act  likely 
to  give  offense,  he  must  harbor  no  resentment.  But, 
so  far  as  the  other  party  is  concerned,  the  rule  is 
conditional,  for  no  one  knew  better  than  Paul,  out 
of  life's  bitter  experiences,  that  the  most  sacrificial 
efforts  to  keep  the  peace  may  be  frustrated  by  the 
acts  of  enemies  whom  no  consideration  can  pacify, 
no  concession  quiet.  For  an  event  after  this  writing 
see  Acts  21 :  26,  27.  Our  own  conduct  is  in  our 
power;  our  neighbor's,  not.  Here,  too,  love  must  do 
its  best.]  19  Avenge  not  yourselves,  beloved,  but 
give  place  unto  the  wrath  of  God:  for  it  is  written, 
Vengeance  belongeth  unto  me;  I  will  recompense, 
saith  the  Lord.  [The  quotation  is  from  Deut.  32 :  35. 
We  may  look  upon  verse  17  as  designed  to  check 
hasty,  p'ersonal  retaliation,  or  as  relating  to  injuries 
of  a  more  personal  nature.  The  avenging  of  this 
verse  savors  more  of  a  judicial  punishment — a  punish- 
ment which  one's  calm  judgment,  unbefogged  by 
passion  and  unbiased  by  the  sense  of  wrong,  might 
haply  mete  out  as  absolutely  just  and  unqualifiedly 
deserved.  But  even  under  such  circumstances  the 
Christian  is  to  leave  the  culprit  in  God's  hands,  for 
the    Lord    claims   exclusive   jurisdiction    in    the   case, 


504  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

and  promises  to  give  the  just  recompense.  We  bar 
God's  judgments  by  attempting  to  anticipate  them, 
and  we  also  call  down  his  tremendous  sentence  upon 
ourselves  for  the  small  satisfaction  of  executing  our 
puny  sentence  upon  one  whom  he  would  in  time  deal 
with  if  we  were  only  patient.  The  wrath  to  which 
we  must  give  place  is  evidently  neither  our  own  nor 
our  enemy's,  but  God's  (as  appears  by  the  context. 
Comp.  Prov.  20:22;  24:29).  Waiting  persuades  us 
to  forgiveness,  for  when  we  reflect  on  the  severity 
and  lasting  nature  of  God's  punishment,  we  partake 
of  his  desire  to  show  grace  and  grant  pardon.  But 
how  just  are  the  awards  of  his  throne !  His  mind 
is  clouded  by-  no  passion,  biased  by  no  prejudice,  de- 
ceived by  no  false  appearances,  misled  by  no  lying 
testimony,  warped  by  no  illwill.  And  when  his 
judgment  is  formed,  grace  guides  its  course,  mercy 
mollifies  its  execution,  and,  as  far  as  righteousness 
permits,  the  love  of  a  F'ather  who  pities  his  feeble, 
earth-born  children  transforms  it  into  a  blessing. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  a  judgment  of  God,  and  not  of 
man,  and  the  majesty  of  God  is  upheld  in  it.  God- 
revealed  religion  bids  us  thus  wait  upon  this  judg- 
ment of  God,  but  man-made  religion  speaks  other- 
wise. "Mahomet's  laws,"  says  Trapp,  "run  thus: 
Avenge  yourselves  of  your  enemies;  rather  do  wrong 
than  take  wrong;  kill  the  infidels,  etc."  In  giving 
this  command  Paul  uses  the  term  "beloved."  "By 
this  title,"  says  Bengel,  "he  soothes  the  angry."  "The 
more  difificult  the  duty,  the  more  affectionately  does 
the  apostle  address  his  readers  with  ^.his  word" — 
Tholuck.]  20  But  [instead  of  avengmg]  if  thine 
enemy  hunger,  feed  him;  if  he  thirst,  give  him  to 
drink:  for  in  so  doing  thou  shalt  heap  coals  of  fire 
upon  his  head.  [Quoted  from  Prov.  25:21,  22  LXX., 
where  the  words,  "And  Jehovah  will  reward  thee," 
are  added.  Simply  to  forbear  from  avenging  is  only 
half  a  victory.  The  full  conquest  is  to  return  good 
for  evil  (Luke  6:27-30).  In  feeding  enemies  we  are 
like   God,  who  daily   feeds   sinners,   and  the   conduct 


LOVE   AND    OTHER    VIRTUES  505 

of  God  is  our  law  (Matt.  5:44-48).  Heaping  coals 
of  fire  is  a  figure  derived  from  the  crucible,  where 
they  were  heaped  upon  the  hard  metal  till  it  softened 
and  melted.  Kindness  is  not  utterly  lost  on  beasts, 
but  with  man  it  ought  always  to  prevail,  for  it  heaps 
coals  upon  the  head,  or  seat  of  intelligence,  filling 
the  mind  with  the  vehement  pangs  and  pains  of  con- 
science, the  torments  of  shame,  remorse  and  self- 
reproach.  The  most  effectual  way  of  subduing  an 
enemy  is  by  the  unbearable  punishment  of  unfailing 
kindness — it  is  God's  way.  "The  logic  of  kindness," 
says  Johnson,  "is  more  powerful  than  the  logic  of 
argument."  The  same  thought  is  now  repeated  by 
the  apostle  without  a  figure.]  21  Be  not  overcome 
of  evil,  but  overcome  evil  with  good.  [Evil  is  the 
weak  weapon  of  the  sinner ;  goodness,  the  puissant, 
all-conquering  blade  of  the  saint.  What  shame, 
then,  if  the  saint  lose  in  the  unequal  conflict !  "Thus 
David  overcame  Saul"  (Trapp).  "In  revenge,"  says 
Basil,  "he  is  the  loser  who  is  the  victor."  When 
evil  leads  us  to  do  evil,  then  are  we  overcome  of 
evil.  When  we  meet  evil  with  good,  we  have  at 
least  overcome  the  evil  in  ourselves,  if  not  in  our 
enemy. 

IV. 

THE      FAITH-LIFE      DISCHARGING     CIVIL 

DUTIES,    AND    RECOGNIZING    THE 

DIVINE     ORDINATION     OF 

GOVERNMENTS. 

13:1-7. 

[Paul,  having  shown  how  the  faith-life  ofifers  itself 
as  a  daily  sacrifice  of  love  in  spiritual  and  social 
spheres,  now  gives  an  outline  of  the  sacrifice  of  self 
which  it  is  to  make  in-  civil  and  business  aflfairs. 
This  he  does  in  two  sections,  the  first  of  which  sets 
forth  the  Christian's  relationship  to  government 
(1-7),  and  the  second  his  civil  relations  to  men,  busi- 
ness, etc.,  under  government   (8-10.)     As  in  spiritual 


506  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

matters  he  was  to  first  limit  himself  by  humility 
(12:1-8)  and  then  give  himself  in  love  (12:9-21),  so 
he  is  here  to  limit  himself  by  submission  to  the 
state  (1-7),  and  then  give  himself  in  love  to  his 
fellow-citizens  (8-10).  But  conditions  at  Rome  made 
this  instruction  as  to  the  Christian's  duty  to  be 
loyal  and  submissive  to  government  particularly  op- 
portune, for  (1)  the  Jew  believed  that,  as  a  citizen 
of  the  Theocracy,  it  was  at  least  derogatory  to  his 
character,  if  not  an  act  of  treason  toward  God,  to 
acknowledge  allegiance  to  any  earthly  government 
(Deut.  17:15).  This  belief  had  already  fomented 
that  unrest  in  Palestine  (Acts  5 :  36,  37 ;  Josep.  Antt. 
8:1:1)  which  ten  years  later  broke  out  in  rebellion, 
and  necessitated  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  This 
unrest  had  already  resulted  in  banishment  of  Jews 
and  Christians  from  Rome  about  seven  years  before, 
in  A.  D.  51  (Acts  18:2;  Suet.  "Claudius"  c.  25;  Dio 
Cassius  60:6).  This  unrest  was  sure  to  permeate 
the  church  (Ewald),  for  a  considerable  percentage  of 
the  churches,  the  world  over,  were  Jews,  and  this 
influence  in  the  church  was  great.  There  is  nothing 
in  Acts  28  to  contradict  the  idea  that  there  were  Jews 
enough  in  the  Roman  church  to  have  influence  in  it 
(contra,  see  Weiss  and  Alford).  (2)  The  world  gen- 
erally looked  upon  the  Christians  as  a  mere  Jewish 
sect,  and  the  suspicions  of  disloyalty  which  attached 
to  the  Jews  would  readily  attach  to  the  Christians 
(Calvin).  History  confirms  this.  Nero  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  turning  suspicion  against  them.  How  cir- 
cumspectly, then,  should  they  have  walked.  (3) 
Moreover,  many  Christians  entertained  notions  similar 
to  the  Jews.  They  belonged  to  the  new  Theocracy, 
and  held  that  loyalty  to  Christ  absolved  them  from 
all  allegiance  to  earthly  government.  Rome,  as  the 
center  of  the  world-power,  at  once  inspired  and 
hindered  the  false  dreams  of  well-intentioned  but 
deceived  disciples.  History  proves  that  the  world- 
power  of  the  Roman  capital  seduced  Christians  into 
attempting  to   form  of  Christ's   kingdom   a   temporal 


CIVIL   DUTIES  507 

world-power  like  that  of  the  Caesars — viz.,  the  Roman 
Catholic  hierarchy — and  Paul  tells  us  that  this  evil 
influence  was  already  at  work,  though  hindered,  in 
his  day  (2  Thess.  2:6-12).  (4)  On  general  principles, 
the  atrocities  so  soon  to  be  perpetrated  by  Nero 
were  apt  to  put  revolutionary  and  even  anarchistic 
ideas  in  the  heads  of  the  most  staid  and  sober. 
Nero's  persecutions  began  about  a  year  after  this 
Epistle  was  written  (Tholuck).  These  conditions 
made  Paul's  words  timely  indeed,  but  they  are  not, 
however,  to  be  regarded  as  savoring  of  the  temporary. 
His  words  are  abiding  and  eternal  truth,  and  contain 
fundamental  and  organic  instruction  for  all  ages.] 
XIII.  1  Let  every  soul  [all  humanity,  whether  in  the 
church  or  not]  be  in  subjection  to  the  higher  powers 
[Be  subject  to  all  civil  powers — power  higher  than  that 
of  the  common  citizen,  whether  monarchic,  oligarchal 
or  republican.  This  injunction  includes  both  persons 
and  offices,  and  asserts  that  there  is  no  inherent  and 
essential  conflict  between  the  claims  of  God  and  those 
of  the  state.  One  can  render,  and  must  render,  what 
is  due  to  each — Matt.  22:21]:  for  there  is  no  power 
but  of  God ;  and  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of 
God.  [Having  asserted  and  commanded  duty  toward 
the  state,  the  apostle  next  states  the  ground  or 
reason  of  that  duty,  the  justification  of  his  command, 
in  two  heads:  (1)  Abstractly  considered,  governments 
are  of  divine  origin ;  (2)  concretely  considered,  God 
has  ordained  the  present  system  of  government,  and 
has  chosen  the  officers  now  in  power;  not  directly, 
according  to  the  exploded  notion  of  the  divine  right 
of  kings,  but  indirectly  by  the  workings  of  govern- 
mental principles  which  God  sanctions,  by  the  oper- 
ations of  general  providences  of  his  ordering.  Thus 
the  government  in  force  and  the  ruler  in  power  in 
any  country  at  any  given  time  are,  de  facto,  God- 
appointed.  The  apostle's  first  statement,  that  gov- 
ernments, viewed  in  general  and  abstractly,  are 
ordained  of  God,  is  readily  accepted  as  true;  but  this 
latter  concrete  statement,  that  each  particular  govern- 


508  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

ment  and  governor  is  also  of  divine  appointment,  is 
harder  to  receive.  The  reason  is  that  God's  provi- 
dences working  evil  to  the  evil,  as  well  as  good  to 
the  good,  often  place  evil  men  in  power  as  a  cure  to 
the  evil  in  man  which  helped  to  place  them  there.] 
2  Therefore  he  that  resisteth  the  power,  withstandeth 
the  ordinance  of  God  [This  is  the  enunciation  of  the 
general  principle  without  any  accompanying  excep- 
tions. Pressed  to  its  limits,  this  precept  would  pre- 
vent any  revolution  from  succeeding,  for  the  leader 
of  the  revolution  could  never  be  permitted  of  God 
to  rule,  as  his  rulership  would  then  be  counte- 
nanced by  God  as  of  his  ordaining,  and  thus,  in  coun- 
tenancing and  ordaining  both  opposing  governments, 
God  would  be  divided  against  himself.  The  principle 
and  its  exceptions  would  best  be  understood  by  com- 
paring the  life  of  a  government  with  that  of  a  man. 
Each  life  is  an  emanation  from  God,  and  therefore 
each  is  protected  by  the  general,  fundamental  law, 
'Thou  shalt  not  kill."  But  this  law  in  each  case 
presumes  that  each  life,  whether  governmental  or 
individual,  will  so  comply  with  the  precepts  and 
purposes  of  God,  and  so  fulfill  the  ends  for  which  it 
was  created,  as  to  deserve  to  live.  If  it  does  things 
worthy  of  death,  it  shall  be  put  to  death  (Gen.  9:6). 
Paul,  therefore,  in  laying  down  the  rule,  has  in  mind 
the  age-long  principle  which,  in  our  common  law, 
finds  expression  in  the  maxim,  "The  king  [govern- 
ment] can  do  no  wrong."  Only  the  most  obvious, 
evident  breach  of  this  maxim  can  justify  revolution. 
Each  life  must,  as  it  were,  be  rigidly  protected  from 
lynch  law,  and  must  be  given  the  calm  deliberation 
of  a  judicial  trial.  When  this  is  not  the  case,  the 
one  who  assails  the  individual  life  becomes  a  mur- 
derer, and  the  one  who  attempts  the  life  of  the  state 
"resists  the  ordinance  of  God."  Every  revolt,  for  a 
time,  shakes  public  confidence  in  a  divine  institution, 
so  there  must  be  no  resistance  until  the  demand  for 
it  becomes  practically  unavoidable;  otherwise  we 
incur   the   resentment   of   God,    for   our   conduct  has 


CIVIL   DUTIES  509 

tended  toward  anarchy  and  confusion.  We  should 
therefore  exhaust  legitimate  expedients,  svich  as  pro- 
tests, political  reactions,  etc.,  before  we  resort  to 
revolutionary  extremes]  :  and  they  that  withstand 
shall  receive  to  themselves  judgment.  [Commen- 
tators, unable  to  define  the  preceding  precept,  and 
regarding  it  as  ostensibly  a  prohibition  of  all  revolu- 
tion, or  practically  to  that  effect,  have  consoled 
themselves  by  limiting  ''judgment"  to  the  punish- 
ments which  the  state  inflicts,  thus  arriving  at  the 
conclusion  that  rebels  have  a  right  to  rebel  if  they 
are  willing  to  suffer  the  temporal  punishment  attend- 
ant on  failure.  But  the  context  forbids  this  mollify- 
ing modification.  If  we  resist  the  ordinance  of  God, 
we  shall  undoubtedly  taste  the  judgment  of  God,  and 
rightly,  too,  for  what  terrific  misery,  poverty,  suffer- 
ing and  loss  of  life  attend  on  revolution !  Shall  not 
God  award  justice  to  those  who  lightly  and  for 
personal  ambitions- fill  the  world  with  such  horrors?] 
3  For  rulers  are  not  a  terror  to  the  good  work,  but 
to  the  evil.  ["For"  explains  why  the  punishment 
comes  upon  the  rebel.  It  is  because  government 
exists  to  promote  the  good  and  suppress  the  evil 
(1  Tim.  2:1,  2;  1  Pet.  2:13-17).  If  it  does  other- 
wise, ''it,"  as  Burkitt  sagely  remarks,  "was  not 
ordained  for  that  end."  A  good  man  may  suffer 
through  misunderstanding-,  the  machination  of  evil 
men,  or  even  maladministration,  but  he  can  never 
suffer  as  a  good  man.  Even  Nero  punished  Chris- 
tians as  evil-doers  (2  Tim.  2:9).  History  presents  no 
instance  where  any  government  set  itself  to  put  down 
righteousness  and  exalt  evil  as  such;  though  there 
are  myriads  of  cases  where  human  ignorance,  preju- 
dice and  bigotry  mistook  the  wrong  for  the  righ't,  and 
made  havoc  of  the  good,  supposing  it  to  be  evil.  -Paul 
himself,  as  an  executive  of  the  Jewish  Government, 
had  been  party  to  such  an  error  (Acts  8:3;  9:1,  2; 
1  Tim.  1:13).  Intentional  punishment  of  the  good 
and  countenancing  of  the  evil  would  be  governmental 
insanity  and  suicide.     When  it  becomes  apparent  to 


510  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

the  populace  that  the  government  has  fallen  into  this 
state  of  aberrance,  revolution  is  inevitable;  but  till 
the  information  becomes  general,  the  individual  must 
submit,  for  slight  mistakes  do  not  justify  momentous 
changes  and  vast  social  upheavals,  and  peace  for  the 
many  may  well  be  purchased  at  the  discomfiture  of 
the  Jew.  But  if  armed  or  physical  resistance  is  for- 
bidden, moral  resistance  is  strictly  and  unequivocally 
enjoined.  The  government  must  exact  nothing  con- 
trary to  or  inconsistent  with  Christian  duty.  If  it 
does,  we  must  obey  God  rather  than  men  (Acts 
4:18-20;  5:28,  29);  for  under  no  circumstance  can 
God's  children  be  justified  in  doing  wrong  (Matt.  10: 
28;  Rom.  3:8).  Allegiance  ceases  when  the  law  of 
the  land  seeks  to  subvert  the  law  of  God ;  and  Paul 
teaches  nothing  to  the  contrary.  As  the  martyr 
Polycarp  said  to  the  governor  who  bade  him  de- 
nounce Christ,  and  swear  by  the  fortunes  of  Caesar: 
"We  are  taught  to  give  honor  to  'princes  and  poten- 
tates, but  such  honor  as  is  not  contrary  to  God's 
religion."  ''It  was  the  student  of  Paul,"  says  Moule, 
''who,  alone  before  the  great  Diet,  uttering  no  denun- 
ciation, temperate  and  respectful  in  his  whole  bearing, 
was  yet  found  immovable  by  pope  and  emperor :  '/ 
can  not  otherzvise;  so  help  me  God/  "]  And  wouldest 
thou  have  no  fear  of  the  power?  do  that  which  is 
good,  and  thou  shalt  have  praise  from  the  same 
[comp.  1  Pet.  2:  14]  :  4  for  he  is  a  minister  of  God 
to  thee  for  good.  [The  law-abiding  have  no  fear  of 
the  laws,  and  have  just  reason  to  expect  the  recog- 
nition and  consideration  which  are  the  rightful  dues 
of  honesty  and  probity.  "Commendations  by  magis- 
trates," says  Lange,  "in  opposition  to  punishments, 
were  common  even  in  ancient  times."  "When  Paul 
wrote  these  things,"  says  Grotius,  "rage  did  not  riot 
against  the  Christians  at  Rome."  Seneca  and  Burrhus 
were  still  in  power,  and  good  men  were  the  objects 
of  governmental  protection.  "How  much  to  be  re- 
gretted it  is,"  observes  Lard,  "that  rulers  do.  not 
more  generally  recognize  the  fact  here  stated  by  the 


CIVIL   DUTIES  511 

apostle.  Instead  of  this,  however,  they  appear  seldom 
even  to  dream  that  they  are  placed  in  office  merely 
as  God's  servants.  Rather,  they  seem  to  think  that 
they  are  placed  there  solely  for  their  own  benefit. 
The  fear  of  God  is  often  not  before  their  eyes,  nor 
yet  the  good  of  the  people  a  tithe  as  much  as  their 
own.  Too  frequently  they  serve  merely  self,  with 
no  regard  for  God,  and  but  little  for  any  one  else. 
Such  rulers  serve  not  God,  but  Satan."]  But  if  thou 
do  that  which  is  evil,  be  afraid;  for  he  beareth  not 
the  sword  in  vain:  for  he  is  a  minister  of  God,  an 
avenger  for  wrath  to  him  that  doeth  evil.  [As  we 
understand  it,  the  idea  which  the  apostle  is  seeking 
to  convey  is  that  duties  to  God  and  duties  to  the 
state  are  parallel,  rather  than  antagonistic.  If  the 
Christian  is  true  to  his  religion,  he  need  fear  neither 
the  state  nor  God,  for  God  rules,  generally  speaking, 
in  and  through  the  state,  as  well  as  in  his  provi- 
dences. If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  do  evil,  we  have 
reason  to  fear  both  God  and  the  state,  for  the  state 
is  merely  one  of  the  forms  of  God's  administration. 
The  Romans  made  much  of  the  sword  as  symbol  of 
the  power  of  life  and  death.  Her  magistrates  and 
officers,  holding  the  power  of  capital  punishment, 
caused  the  sword  (and  the  ax)  to  be  borne  before 
them  in  their  public  processions.  Thus  Paul  declares 
that  the  office-holder  is  a  servant  of  God  to  foster 
the  good  by  praise  and  commendation,  and  to  sup- 
press the  evil  as  an  avenger  appointed  to  inflict 
wrath — i.  e.,  punishment — upon  it.]  5  Wherefore 
[because  of  all  that  has  been  said — vs.  1-4]  ye  must 
needs  be  in  subjection,  not  only  because  of  the 
wrath,  but  also  for  conscience'  sake.  [1  Pet.  2:13. 
The  Christian  has  a  double  incentive  for  keeping  the 
civil  law;  for  if  he  resists  the  government  he  will 
not  only  be  punished,  but  he  will  sin  against  God ; 
thus  both  fear  and  conscience  move  him  to  obedi- 
ence.] 6  For  [epexigetic,  introducing  a  detail  or  illus- 
trative fact  proving  the  principle]  for  this  cause  ye  pay 
tribute  also  [i.  e.,  among  other  acts  of  submission] ;  for 


512  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

they  [the  recipients  of  the  taxes]  are  ministers  of 
God's  service,  attending  continually  upon  this  very 
thing.  [/.  e.,  acting-  continually  as  servants  of  God  in 
his  civil  administrations.  The  apostle  cites  the  conduct 
of  subjects  in  the  payment  of  taxes,  for  no  matter  v^hat 
theories  the  Jews  or  the  Judaistic  Christians  might 
have  as  to  the  rights  of  government  to  his  allegiance, 
he  never  failed  to  pay  his  taxes,  being  moved  thereby 
by  the  very  influences  here  named  by  the  apostle ; 
viz.,  fear  and  conscience.  He  feared  the  penal  con- 
sequences of  refusing  to  pay,  and  he  conscientiously 
felt  that  the  government  deserved  some  compensation 
for  maintaining  peace  and  order,  especially  since,  as 
Paul  notes,  they  made  this  their  business,  gave  their 
wliole  time  to  it,  and  made  no  other  provision  for 
their  livelihood  than  their  salaries  as  public  func- 
tionaries, all  of  which  is  implied  in  ''attending  con- 
tinuously," etc.  Christians  in  our  age  have  well-nigh 
universally  forgotten  that  the  tax  assessor  and  the 
tax  collector  are  ministers  of  God,  and  many  evade 
making  true  returns  with  as  little  compunction  as 
they  would  were  the  tax  officials  the  servants  of  the 
devil.  This  sin  has  become  so  universal  that  it  is 
well-nigh  regarded  as  a  virtue.]  7  Render  to  all 
[civil  officials]  their  dues:  tribute  to  whom  tribute 
is  due;  custom  to  whom  custom ;  fear  to  whom  fear ; 
honor  to  whom  honor.  [Kypke  points  out  the  dis- 
tinction between  tribute  and  custom.  The  former 
means  direct  taxes ;  poll,  real  and  personal ;  custom 
refers  to  tolls,  imports,  indirect  taxes  on  goods  and 
merchandise,  known  to  us  in  the  familiar  tariffs  on 
imports  and  exports.  In  Paul's  time  they  appear  to 
have  been  principally  on  imported  goods,  and  were 
levied  at  the  gates  of  the  city  at  the  time  of  entry 
(Matt.  9:9).  As  the  Christian  paid  his  taxes,  so'  he 
vv^as  to  go  on  discharging  his  other  duties,  fearing 
those  in  authority  as  those  whom  God  placed  over 
him,  and  honoring  all  those  in  governmental  position 
because  the  officers  are  part  of  God's  ordained  plan, 
and  those  who  hold  them  have  been  placed  there  by 


CIVIL   DUTIES  513 

his  general  providence.  Some  hundred  years  later 
Paul's  words  about  taxes  were  being  strictly  obeyed, 
for  Tertullian,  representing  that  time,  says  that  what 
the  Romans  lost  by  the  Christians  refusing  to  bestow 
gifts  on  the  idolatrous  temples,  they  gained  by  their 
conscientious  payment  of  taxes  (Apolog.  42,  Vol.  I., 
p.  494). 

V. 

THE  FAITH-LIFE  OPERATING  IN  ALL  CIVIL 

AND   SOCIAL   AFFAIRS    IN    LOVE,   AND 

RECOGNIZING  THE  JUST  RIGHTS 

OF  OTHERS. 

13 : 8-10. 

[Having  shown  that  the  Christian  must  recog- 
nize the  rights  of  those  abozre  him  (*'the  higher 
powers"),  the  apostle  now  proceeds  to  enjoin  upon 
him  the  recognition  of  the  just  rights  of  his  fellow- 
beings  who  are  all  about  him.  If  the  state  has  a 
right  to  demand  dutiful  conduct  of  him,  his  neigh- 
bors, fellow-citizens,  and  the  human  race  generally, 
may  likewise  exact  of  him  the  ministrations  of 
love.]  8  Owe  no  man  anything,  save  to  love  one 
another  [The  indebtedness  here  meant  includes,  but 
is  riot  confined  to,  pecuniary  obligations.  The  pre- 
cept does  not  prohibit  the  contraction  of  a  debt,  but 
it  constrains  us  to  be  prepared  to  pay  it  when  due. 
**Owe  no  tax,  no  custom,  no  fear,  no  honor,  and 
pay  all  their  dues"  (Lard).  The  obligation  to  give 
the  gospel  to  those  that  have  it  not  is  one  of  the 
Christian's  greatest  debts  (1 :  14,  15).  Love  also  is,  as 
Bengel  observes,  "an  eter^ial  debt."  "This,"  says 
Trapp,  "is  that  desperate  debt  that  a  man  can  not 
discharge  himself  of;  but  must  be  ever  paying,  and 
yet  ever  owing.  As  we  say  of  thanks,  'Thanks  must 
be  given,  and  yet  held  as  still  due :'  so  must  this 
debt  of  love."  Moreover,  it  is  an  ever-increasing 
debt,  for  it  is  like  the  payment  of  interest;  only  in 


514  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

this  case  each  payment  of  interest  is  such  an  exercise 
and  turning  over  of  the  principal  as  tends  to  its  in- 
crease, thereby  enlarging  in  a  kind  of  arithmetical 
progression  the  payments  of  interest]  :  for  he  that 
loveth  his  neighbor  hath  fulfilled  the  law.  ["The 
perfect  pepleroken  {hath  fulfilled)  denotes  that  in  the 
one  act  of  loving  there  is  virtually  contained  the 
fulfillment  of  all  the  duties  prescribed  by  the  laAV. 
For  a  man  does  not  offend  or  kill,  or  calumniate  or 
rob,  those  whom  he  loves.  Such  is  the  idea  developed 
in  the  two  following  verses" — Godet.]  9  For  this 
[Paul  here  begins  the  statement  of  a  first  premise, 
and  in  the  eleventh  verse,  with  the  words  "and  this," 
he  begins  the  statement  of  a  second  premise.  The 
first  premise  is  that  the  Christian  (or  faith)  life, 
freed  from  the  complications  and  onerous  burden  of 
the  multitudinous  laws  of  the  Jewish  (or  law)  life,  is 
governed  by  the  principle  underlying  all  these  laws 
most  happily  reduced  to  a  simple  commandment; 
viz.,  "Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself"  (9,  10).  The 
second  premise  is  that  salvation,  which  is  so  dimly 
suggested  to  the  Jewish  (or  law)  life  as  to  be  no 
incentive  at  all  to  good  deeds,  is  clearly  and  distinctly 
promised  to  the  Christian  (or  faith)  life,  and  is  com- 
prehended by  it  to  be  as  rapidly  and  as  surely 
approaching  as  the  dawning  day.  From  these  two 
premises  the  conclusion  is  drawn  that  we  should 
lead  the  faith-life  becomingly,  by  putting  on  Christ. 
If  we  supply  the  word  "reason"  after  each  "this," 
the  meaning  will  be  clear.  Surely  the  simpHcity  of 
the  Christian  life,  and  the  sureness  and  exceeding 
greatness  of  the  salvation  which  is  its  reward,  are 
sufficient  reasons  for  our  leading  it  becomingly]. 
Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery,  Thou  shalt  not 
kill,  Thou  shalt  not  steal,  Thou  shalt  not  covet,  and 
if  there  be  any  other  commandment,  it  is  summed  up 
in  this  w^ord,  namely,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself.  [The  Ten  Commandments  are  divided 
into  two  divisions  of  four  and  six.  The  first  four 
relate  to  duties  to  God,  and  are  taken  no  notice  of 


RIGHTS    OF    OTHERS  515 

here,  for  they  do  not  pertain  to  justice  to  our  fellow- 
,man,  and  hence  are  outside  the  sphere  of  Paul's 
present  argument.  The  second  division,  or  second 
table  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  contains  six  pre- 
cepts which  relate  to  man's  duty  to  his  fellows:  four 
of  them  are  given  here,  and  two  relating  to  honoring 
parents  and  bearing  false  witness  are  omitted  (Ex. 
20:12-17).  Though  not  named,  they  are  included  in 
the  phrase  "any  other  commandment."  The  order, 
too,  is  not  that  given  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  but  fol- 
lows one  of  the  versions  of  the  LXX.  The  order  in 
which  the  commands  are  here  given  is  likewise  found 
at  Mark  10:19;  Luke  18:20;  Jas.  2:11,  and  also  in 
Philo,  and  Clement  of  Alexandria.  It  is  surmised 
that  the  LXX.  changed  the  order  because  of  some  of 
their  traditions.  Many  commands  as  to  conduct 
towards  neighbors  are  summed  up  by  Moses  in  this 
love  commandment  in  a  manner  somewhat  similar 
to  Paul's  (Lev.  19:9-18;  comp.  Matt.  19:19;  22:39, 
40;  Gal.  5:14,  22,  23).  The  last  of  the  ten  forbids 
covetousness,  a  passion  which  presents  almost  as 
broad  and  powerful  an  impulse  for  the  breaking  of 
all  the  commandments  as  love  does  for  keeping  them, 
for  the  love  of  money  alone  is  a  root  of  all  evil  (1 
Tim.  6:10),  though  it  is  but  one  phase  of  covetous- 
ness. The  truth  is  that  covetousness  gives  wider 
scope  to  self-love  than  any  other  passion,  and  self- 
love  is  the  motive  which  leads  to  all  breaches  of 
law.  Love  of  neighbor  is  the  opposite  motive,  coun- 
teracting all  lawlessness,  and  tending  to  the  mani- 
festation of  the  perfect  life.  But  we  have  no  perfect 
example  of  this  ideal,  altruistic  love  save  in  the  Christ 
himself.  Plesion  means  near,  close  by:  with  the  article 
it  means  "neighbor";  i.  e.,  the  near  by.  We  readily 
acknowledge  the  one  who  is  permanently  and  literally 
near  by  as  our  neighbor;  but  Christ  taught  us  that 
the  one  who  is  temporarily  near  is  also  a  neighbor 
(Luke  10:30-37),  and  so  likewise  are  those  who  are 
constructively  near;  that  is,  those  with  whom  modern 
means  of   communication   have   made   us   acquainted, 


516  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

so  that,  knowing  their  needs,  we  are  thereby 
prompted  to  sympathize  and  impelled  to  help — Acts, 
16 :  9,  10.]  10  Love  worketh  no  ill  to  his  neighbor :  love 
therefore  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  law.  [All  divine  law, 
whether  of  ]\Ioses  and  the  prophets,  of  Christ  or  the 
apostles,  is  fulfilled  by  love,  for  those  things  that  law 
requires  are  the  natural,  normal  acts  of  a  loving  heart. 
"Love,"  says  Leibnitz,  ''is  that  which  finds  its  felicity 
in  another's  good."  Another  has  defined  it  thus :  "Love 
is  holiness,  spelt  short."  How  easily,  then,  will  it  keep 
all  precepts,  whether  toward  man  or  God !  "The  expres- 
sion implies  more  than  a  simple  performance  of  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  law ;  true  love  does  more  than  this :  it  adds 
a  completeness  to  the  performance.  It  reaches  those 
lesser  courtesies  and  sympathies  which  can  not  be 
digested  into  a  code  or  reduced  to  rule.  To  the  bare 
framework  of  law,  which  is  as  the  bones  and  sinews, 
it  adds  the  flesh  which  fills  it,  and  the  life  which 
actuates  it"  {Webster  and  Wilkinson).  "Nor  is  it 
possible  to  find  for  human  life,  amid  all  the  intricate 
mazes  of  conduct,  any  other  principle  that  should  be 
at  once  as  simple,  as  powerful  and  as  profound" 
{Sanday).  "How  many  schemes  would  it  crush.  It 
would  silence  the  voice  of  the  slanderer ;  it  would 
stay  the  plans  of  the  seducer  and  the  adulterer ;  it 
would  put  an  end  to  cheating  and  fraud,  and  all 
schemes  of  dishonest  gain.  The  gambler  desires  the 
property  of  his  neighbor  without  any  compensation, 
and  thus  works  ///  to  him.  The  dealer  in  lotteries 
desires  property  for  which  he  has  never  toiled,  and 
which  must  be  obtained  at  the  expense  and  loss  of 
others.  And  there  are  many  employments  all  whose 
tendency  is  to  work  ///  to  a  neighbor.  This  is  pre- 
eminently true  of  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits'* 
(Barnes).  Love  is  the  spirit  of  gracious  addition,  while 
covetousness,  theft,  etc.,  are  the  spirits  of  subtraction. 
Love  emanates  from  God,  w^hose  name  is  Love,  but 
selfishness  is  of  the  devil,  who  asserts  himself  even 
against  God.  Love,  therefore,  is  the  basis  of  all  god- 
like action,  the  motive  power  for  every  noble  deed. 


MOTIVES   FOR    THESE   DUTIES         517 


VI. 

THE  FAITH-LIFE  FINDS  ITS  MOTIVES   FOR 
ALL  THESE  DUTIES  IN  THE  EVER-IM- 
PENDING COMING  OF  THE  LORD. 

13:11-14. 

[At  Rom.  12 :  1,  2  Paul  began  this  hortatory  division 
of  his  Epistle  by  reminding  his  readers  of  the  past 
mercies  of  God,  making  of  those  blessings  which  lay 
behind  them  a  strong  motive,  impelling  them  by  every 
sense  of  gratitude  to  go  forward  in  the  Christian  life. 
He  here  closes  his  exhortation  with  an  appeal  to  the 
future  rewards  of  God,  summed  up  in  that  endless  and 
glorious  day  of  salvation  which  lay  before  them,  at- 
tracting them  by  every  sense  of  heavenly  aspiration 
to  continue  on  in  the  faith-life.  Thus  the  spiritual 
forces  of  memory  and  hope  are  made  use  of  by  the 
apostle  to  push  and  pull  his  readers  heavenward.] 
11  And  this  [see  note  at  verse  9  above],  knowing  the 
season,  that  already  it  is  time  for  you  to  awake  out 
of  sleep  ["The  imagery  seems  to  be  taken  originally 
from  our  Lord's  discourse  concerning  his  coming 
(Matt.  24:42;  Mark  13:33;  Luke  21:28-38),  where 
several  points  of  similarity  to  our  verses  11-14  occur" 
(Alford).  For  other  uses  of  the  imagery,  see  1  Cor. 
15:34;  Eph.  5:14;  1  Thess.  5:6-8;  Matt.  25:1-13. 
Sleep  is  a  figurative  expression  denoting  that  moral 
inattention,  indifference  and  carelessness  which  per- 
mits sin.  Out  of  this  torpor  the  Christian  is  ever- 
more striving  to  rouse  himself,  and  into  it  the  world- 
ling is  as  constantly  seeking  to  resign  himself,  that 
conscience,  fear,  and  other  awakening  influences,  may 
not  disturb  him.  To  be  fully  aroused  is  to  be  keenly 
and  thoroughly  conscious  of  all  spiritual  facts  and  re- 
sponsibilities, all  truths  and  possibilities.  Some  need 
to  md:ke  the  effort  to  come  back  to  consciousness ;  all 
need  to  keep  up  their  efforts  to  prevent  the  return 


518  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

of  drowsiness.  The  warning  here  is  addressed  to 
Christians.  ''Whiles  the  crocodile  sleepeth  with  open 
mouth,"  says  Trapp,  "the  Indian  rat  gets  into  his 
stomach,  and  eateth  through  his  entrails.  Whiles 
Ishbosheth  slept  upon  his  bed  at  noon,  Baanah  and 
Rechab  took  away  his  head.  Security  ushereth  in 
destruction.  Go  forth  and  shake  yourselves  as  Sam- 
son did  when  the  Philistines  were  upon  him ;  lest 
Satan  serve  you  for  your  souls,  as  Captain  Drake  did 
the  Spaniard  at  Tamapasa  in  the  West  Indies  for  his 
treasure ;  he  found  him  sleeping  securely  upon  the 
shore,  and  by  him  thirteen  bars  of  silver  to  the  value 
of  forty  thousand  ducats,  which  he  commanded  to  be 
carried  away,  not  so  much  as  waking  the  man.  Or 
lest  Christ  himself  deal  by  us  as  Epimonidas  did  by 
the  watchman  whom  he  found  asleep :  he  thrust  him 
through  with  his  sword ;  and  being  blamed  for  so 
severe  a  fact,  he  replied,  T  left  him  as  I  found  him'  "]  : 
for  now  is  salvation  nearer  to  us  than  when  we  first 
believed.  [Paul  meant  that  his  readers  w^ere  nearer 
that  state  of  final  blessedness  which  we  call  salvation 
than  they  were  when  they  were  converted.  The 
thought  that  each  day  takes  from  us  forever  an  op- 
portunity of  service,  and  that  it  also  brings  us  that 
much  nearer  the  time  of  accounting,  is  a  most  power- 
ful incentive  to  action ;  "one  of  the  most  awakening 
exhortations,"  says  Plumer,  "that  can  be  presented. 
The  Judge  standeth  before  the  door.  Eternity  is  at 
hand."  (Comp.  Heb.  10:25.)  In  and  of  itself 
"nearer"  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  Paul  ex- 
pected the  speedy  approach  of  Christ ;  but  the  context, 
full  of  suggestion  of  a  day  about  to  dawn,  does  imply 
close  nearness.  In  fact,  the  need  of  the  immediate 
awakening  suggested  by  "already  it  is  time,"  lies  as 
much  in  the  rapidity  as  in  the  certainty  of  Christ's 
coming:  a  coming  so  rapid  that  the  interval  had  ap- 
preciably diminished  since  Paul's  readers  had  entered 
on  the  new  life.  Now,  the  second  coming  of  Christ 
may  be  viewed  under  two  aspects;  i.  e.,  either  as 
racial  or  individual.     In  either  case  it  is  speedy,  but 


MOTIVES  FOR    THESE   DUTIES         519 

the  comparative  speed,  or  the  proportion  of  speed, 
is  measured  far  differently,  for  the  centuries  of  the 
life  of  the  race  are  long-  compared  with  the  brief  span 
of  life  apportioned  to  each  individual.  Viewed  racial- 
ly, the  long  night  of  heathenish  darkness  was  drawing 
to  a  close.  The  day  began  to  dawn  when  Christ  was 
born.  An  increase  of  light  came  when  he  gathered 
his  first  disciples,  and  now  the  full  light,  and  con- 
sequently the  salvation  accompanying  the  second 
coming  of  the  Christ,  was  spiritually  (rather  than 
temporarily)  nearer  than  when  believers  first  began 
to  gather  to  the  Master.  While  such  a  construction 
is  well  suited  to  the  large  ideas  of  Christ's  coming,  we 
yet  prefer  the  more  personal  constri^ction  which 
limits  the  range  of  view  to  the  individual.  For  the 
members  of  the  church  at  Rome  the  day  began  to 
dawn  at  the  hour  of  their  conversion,  and  since  then 
the  advancing  years  had  brought  them  nearer  their 
salvation.  There  is,  moreover,  no  direct  mention  of 
the  Lord's  coming;  but  it  is  clearly  implied.  This 
implication,  however,  suits  the  idea  of  the  individual 
Christian's  entrance  into  the  Lord's  presence  by  death 
as  readily  as  does  the  Lord's  approach  to  all  in  the 
hour  of  final  judgment.  To  .be  absent  from  the  body 
is  to  be  present  with  the  Lord  (2  Cor.  5:8;  Phil.  1 : 
23).  We  naturally  look  upon  death  as  a  going  on  our 
part;  but  may  it  not  likewise  be  truly  a  coming  on 
the  part  of  Christ?  (See  John  14:3;  Luke  12:37.) 
Surely  to  the  individual  Christian  salvation  speedily 
grows  nearer  after  conversion,  and  this  night  period 
of  sin  and  sorrow  soon  gives  place  to  the  day  of  sal- 
vation, the  state  of  eternal  blessedness  and  peace  and 
joy  unending,  and  the  brevity  of  the  individual  life  is 
far  more  of  a  stimulus  than  the  brevity  of  the  race 
life.  The  commands  of  our  Saviour  to  watch  for  his 
coming  are  a  constant  tonic  if  viewed  as  addressed  to 
the  individual,  but  they  lose  in  power  if  viewed  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  race.  There  are  many  appar- 
ently unfulfilled  prophecies  which  delay  our  expec- 
tation that  he  will  come  for  final  judgment  in  the  next 


520  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

year  or  two  at  least,  but  there  is  nothing,  prophetic 
or  otherwise,  which  justifies  any  one  in  feeUng  as- 
sured that  he  may  not  come  for  us  individually  before 
nightfall.  ''Stir  up  yourselves,  therefore,"  says  Trapp, 
"and  strain  toward  the  mark.  There  is  a  Greek  word 
(niiosta)  signifying  the  end  of  the  race,  which  is  de- 
rived of  a  word  that  signifieth  to  spur  or  prick  forward. 
Surely  as  they  that  run  their  horses  for  a  wager  spur 
hardest  at  the  race's  end,  therefore,  since  our  salva- 
tion is  nearer  now  than  ever  it  was,  we  should  run 
faster  now  than  ever  we  did.  When  a  cart  is  in  a 
quagmire,  if  the  horses  feel  it  coming  they  pull  the 
harder;  so  must  wt,  now  that  full  deliverance  is  hard 
at  hand.  Rivers  run  more  speedily  and  forcibly,  when 
they  come  near  the  sea,  than  they  did  at  the  spring: 
the  sun  shineth  most  amiably  toward  the  going  down. 
'It  is  even  high  time  for  you  and  me,'  said  old 
Zanchius  to  his  friend  Sturmius,  who  was  elder  than 
he,  'to  hasten  to  heaven ;  as  knowing  that  we  shall  be 
with  Christ,  which  is  far,  far  better.'  "]  12  The  night 
is  far  spent,  and  the  day  is  at  hand:  let  us  therefore 
cast  off  the  works  of  darkness,  and  let  us  put  on  the 
armor  of  light.  [In  this  figure  "night"  stands  for  the 
Christian's  earthly  life,^  which  is  constantly  being 
shortened  and  quickly  becomes  "far  spent."  "Day" 
stands  for  eternity,  that  unending  day  which  is 
swiftly  approaching.  The  passing  of  the  night  calls 
for  a  cessation  of  sleep ;  the  dawning  of  the  day  de- 
mands ever-increasing  wakefulness  and  activity.  The 
Christian's  former,  unregenerate  habits  are  called 
"works  of  darkness,"  not  only  because  righteousness 
is  emblematically  viewed  as  "white,"  and  sin  as 
"black,"  but  because  sin  is  ashamed  of  light  and  con- 
sequent exposure  (Job  24:13-17;  John  3:19-21). 
Moreover,  they  are  pictured  here  as  a  foul  night- 
dress to  be  "  cast  oflf"  as  a  repulsive  thing  (Eph.  4: 
22;  Col.  2:  11;  3:8,  9;  1  Pet.  2:1),  and  in  their  place 
the  Christian  is  to  don  the  works  of  righteousness,  or 
all  the  duties  of  his  new  life  (Eph.  4:23,  24;  Rom.  6: 
4;  2  Cor.  5:17;  Gal.  6:15;  Col.  3:10),  as  defensive 


MOTIVES  FOR    THESE   DUTIES         521 

armor  against  temptations,  and  offensive  weapons  for 
an  aggressive  campaign  against  the  powers  of  evil, 
and  as  the  fitting  harness  in  which  to  report  to  Christ 
for  present  service,  the  proper  garb  in  which  to  have 
him  find  us  should  he  come  suddenly  and  without 
warning,  for  we  are  his  soldiers,  and  on  duty.  Some 
five  years  before  this  Paul  wrote  in  similar  strains  to 
the  Thessalonians,  emphasizing  the  escape  from  dark- 
ness and  mentioning  the  armor  (1  Thess.  5:4-8),  and 
about  four  years  after  this  we  find  him  again  using 
this  figurative  language  in  addressing  the  Ephesians, 
mentioning  the  darkness,  and  emphasizing  the  armor 
— Eph.  6:11-18.]  13  Let  us  walk  becomingly,  as  in 
the  day  [i.  e.,  as  if  the  day  of  salvation  and  the  pres- 
ence of  God  (Rev.  21 :  3)  were  already  here]  ;  not  in 
revelling  and  drunkenness,  not  in  chambering  and 
wantonness,  not  in  strife  and  jealousy.  [Here  are 
three  couplets  of  vices.  The  first  pair  relate  to  in- 
temperance in  eating  and  drinking  (Luke  21:34). 
The  "revel"  (komos)  was  a  drunken  carousal ;  it 
usually  burst  forth  and  paraded  the  streets,  filling 
the  night  air  with  noisy  songs,  and  annoying  pedes- 
trians with  its  buffoonery.  Being  a  favorite  entertain- 
ment among  the  devotees  of  Bacchus,  the  Romans 
were  accustomed  to  it  from  their  youth  up,  and  found 
it  hard  to  resist  the  old-time  fun  and  frolic  once  so 
acceptable.  The  second  pair  described  the  varied 
forms  of  sexual  lust,  libertinism,  lascivious  dalliance, 
etc.  "Chambering"  means  literally  lying  abed.  It 
describes  the  more  definite,  and  "wantonness"  the 
more  general,  acts  of  lewdness  and  abandoned  sen- 
suality. The  third  pair  portray  the  various  forms  of 
venomous  and  hateful  feelings  leading  to  discord, 
open  rupture  and  brutal  violence — feelings  the  very 
opposite  of  love  of  which  the  apostle  has  been  dis- 
coursing. While  these  vices  may  be  found  singly, 
they  normally  go  in  pairs,  and  also  naturally  fall  into 
the  order  here  given.  Beginning  with  revelry  in 
the  early  evening,  how  many  a  poor,  sinful  youth 
has  passed  thence  to  drunkenness,  and  thence  in  turn 


522  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

to  sexual  uncleanness,  and  thence  once  more  to  strife 
and  passion  with  his  fellows,  till,  when  the  night  was 
passed  and  morning  broke,  he  was  found  either  a 
murderer  or  murdered,  to  the  disgrace  of  his  friends 
and  the  broken-hearted  sorrow  of  his  kindred.  Plain 
speech  was  needful  in  Paul's  day :  alas  that  it  should 
be  so  badly  needed  still !]  14  But  put  ye  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  [Kypke's  researches  reveal  the  fact  that 
this  bold  figure  of  speech,  so  little  used  by  us,  was 
very  familiar  to  the  writers  who  were  read  by  those 
of  Paul's  day.  If  a  man  chose  any  hero  or  teacher  as 
an  example  for  his  life,  or  as  an  object  for  his  imita- 
tion, he  was  said  to  "put  on"  that  hero  or  teacher. 
Chrysostom  says  it  was  a  common  figure.  Thus 
Dionysius  Halicarnassus  says  of  Appius  and  the 
other  decemvirs :  ''They  were  no  longer  the  servants 
of  Tarquin,  but  they  clothed  themselves  with  him." 
Lucian  speaks  of  one  "having  put  on  Pythagoras," 
meaning  that  to  the  fullest  extent  he  accepted  the 
great  mathematician  as  his  teacher  and  guide.  Some 
centuries  after  Paul,  Eusebius  says  of  the  sons  of 
Constantine,  "They  put  on  their  father."  "The  mode 
of  speech  itself,"  says  Clark,  "is  taken  from  the  cus- 
tom of  stage  players:  they  assumed  the  name  and  gar- 
ments of  the  person  whose  character  they  were  to  act, 
and  endeavored  as  closely  as  possible  to  imitate  him 
in  their  spirit,  words  and  actions."  The  initial  step 
by  which  we  put  on  Christ  is  by  being  baptized  into 
him.  This  great  truth  Paul  had  revealed  only  a  few 
months  before  he  wrote  to  the  Romans  (Gal  3:27). 
Only  after  the  inward  change  wrought  by  being  born 
of  the  water  and  of  the  Spirit  (John  3:5;  Eph.  5 :  26 ; 
Tit.  3 :  5)  are  we  capable  of  making  the  vesture  of 
our  outward  conduct  such  that  men  may  see  Him  and 
not  ourselves  in  our  daily  life  (Rom.  6:1-11;  2  Cor. 
3:2,3;  Eph.  4 :  24 ;  Col.  2:11-3:  10) .  He  becomes  to 
us,  then,  the  wedding  garment  which  guarantees  our 
acceptability  to  God  (Matt.  22:11),  and  causes  us  to 
cast  aside  our  garment  of  legal  righteousness  as  a 
filthy  rag — Phil.  3:6-11],  and  make  not  provision  for 


MOTIVES   FOR    THESE    DUTIES  523 

the  flesh,  to  fulfil  the  lusts  thereof,  [We  are  allowed 
to  make  reasonable  provision  for  the  just  needs  of  the 
flesh  (Matt.  6:33;  Eph.  5:29;  1  Cor.  11:34;  1  Tim. 
5:23),  but  our  provision  must,  as  it  were,  go  on  tip- 
toe, and  be  exercised  with  extreme  caution,  so  as  not  to 
waken  in  us  those  slumbering  dogs  of  lust  which,  if 
aroused,  will  tear  our  spiritual  life  to  pieces.  Pool 
aptly  says  of  our  fleshly  life,  "Sustain  it  we  may,  but 
pamper  it  we  may  not."  Fulfilling  the  lusts  of  the 
flesh  was  the  main  object  of  life  in  pagan  Rome. 


VII. 

THE   FAITH-LIFE    OPERATING   IN    MUTUAL 
FORBEARANCE     BETWEEN     CHRIS- 
TIANS, AS  UNTO  THE  LORD. 

14:1-15:13. 

[The  apostle  begins  this  section  with  "but,"  thus 
marking  its  connection  with  the  preceding  paragraph 
as  setting  forth  matter  in  the  nature  of  an  exception 
thereto.  He  has  been  exhorting  his  readers  to  armed 
activity  and  vigilance  in  the  cause  of  righteousness, 
and  he  now  enters  his  caveat  lest  they  should  turn 
this  needful  and  virtuous  aggressiveness  into  a  sinful 
belligerency,  so  that  the  strong  should  devour  the 
weak.  The  Christian  is  indeed  called  upon  to  wage 
constant  warfare  with  sin,  but  as  to  all  things  of  an 
immoral  or  indififerent  nature  he  must  suppress  this 
martial  spirit  and  show  courteous  and  affectionate 
forbearance  when  dealing  with  the  scruples  of  those 
whose  consciences  are  by  nature  or  education  legal- 
istic and  puritanic.  And  the  weak  must  show  a  like 
mutual  consideration  toward  the  liberties  of  the 
strong.  This  section  is,  as  Lard  remarks,  "pre-emi- 
nently a  chapter  as  to  duties  in  regard  to  things  in- 
different in  themselves."  For  things  not  Indifferent 
there  is  another  rule  (Gal.  1:6-10;  2).     This  section 


524  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

is  also  subordinately  connected  with  the  preceding 
paragraph  by  continuous  reference  to  the  second  com- 
ing of  Christ.  (See  vs.  4,  10-12.)  Verses  1-12  are  ad- 
dressed both  to  the  strong  and  the  weak;  verses  13-23 
and  1  are  addressed  to  the  strong  alone,  and  verses 
2-13  are  addressed  both  to  the  strong  and  the  weak.] 
XIV.  1  But  him  that  is  weak  in  faith  receive  [a  strong 
word.  See  Acts  28:2;  Rom.  15:7;  Philem.  15-17] 
ye,  yet  not  for  decision  of  scruples.  [Do  not  by 
your  reception,  which  ought  to  be  to  him  a  blessing, 
bring  him  into  the  misery  of  unrest  by  discussions 
and  contentions  which  can  end  only  in  vain  reason- 
ings and  valueless  conclusions.  Do  not  discuss  his 
doubts  and  pompously  and  condescendingly  insinuate 
that  he  is  a  fool  for  having  them.  The  Jew  and  the  Gen- 
tile have  stood  in  contrast  throughout  this  book  and 
they  are  here  still  in  this  passage,  and  it  is  therefore 
not  necessary  to  hunt,  as  does  Eichhorn  for  Pythag- 
orean or  other  scrupulous  Gentiles.  The  Jew  with 
his  qualms  sufficiently  answers  all  the  calls  of  the 
context.  Educated  under  the  narrowing,  restricting 
influences  of  the  law,  he  could  not  readily  and  at  once 
comprehend  the  liberty  of  the  gospel ;  hence  he  was 
weak  in  comparison  with  the  Gentile  who  was  un- 
hampered by  legalistic  conceptions  of  meats,  days,'  etc. 
(Gal.  5:1-15;  Col.  2:10-23;  1  Tim.  4:1-8).  He  is 
said  to  be  "weak  in  the  faith"  because  his  juagment, 
still  bound  and  tethered  by  silly  scruples  and  obsolete 
laws,  failed  to  assert  that  strength  which  the  liberty 
of  the  new  faith  allowed  it.  Thus  the  Jewish  con- 
science still  shuddered  at  acts  which  the  Gentile 
Christian  regarded  as  wholly  innocent  and  permis- 
sible; but,  since  its  "failings  leaned  to  virtue's  side," 
and  were  usually  capable  of  correction  if  patiently 
handled,  it  was  to  be  treated  with  consideration  and 
affectionate  kindness.  In  fact,  the  apostle,  for  "is 
weak,"  uses  a  participle  and  not  an  adjective,  thus  in- 
dicating that  the  weakness  is  not  inherent  and  per- 
manent, but  only  a  temporary  defect,  liable  to  be  self- 
corrected  at  any  moment.]      2   One  man   hath  faith 


MUTUAL    FORBEARANCE  525 

[believes  he  has  the  Hberty  or  right]  to  eat  all  things: 
but  he  that  is  weak  eateth  herbs.  [We  are  famiHar 
with  the  universal  Jewish  scruples  with  regard  to 
swine's  flesh  and  meat  offered  to  idols;  but  there 
were  some  who  refined  their  diet  to  far  greater  ex- 
tremes— to  the  "mint,  anise  and  cummin"  standard. 
A  sect  called  Therapeutse  had  a  regimen  thus  de- 
scribed by  Philo :  "Wine  is  not  introduced  .  .  . 
and  the  table  bears  nothing  which  has  blood,  but 
there  is  placed  upon  it  bread  food,  and  salt  for  season- 
ing, to  which  also  hyssop  is  sometimes  added  as  an 
extra  saiice  for  those  who  are  delicate  in  their  eating." 
However,  the  abstinence  here  mentioned  was  most 
widely  practiced  by  all  scattered  Jews.  Knowing 
that  any  meat  bought  in  Gentile  markets  was  open 
to  question  and  liable  to  be  unclean,  they,  being  un- 
able to  purchase  clean  meat  as  prepared  by  Jewish 
butchers,  abstained  from  all  meat  and  ate  only  those 
things  (classed  as  herbs  by  the  apostle)  which  they 
could  trace  from  natural  growth  to  use  on  their  tables. 
(See  Dan.  1;  Tobit  1 :  10,  11.)  Josephus'  "Life,"  Sec. 
3,  mentions  certain  priests  who  fed  solely  on  figs  and 
dates.]  3  Let  not  him  that  eateth  set  at  nought  him 
that  eateth  not ;  and  let  not  him  that  eateth  not  judge 
him  that  eateth:  for  God  hath  received  him.  [Eating 
or  not  eating  was,  with  Paul,  a  matter  of  indifference ; 
but  uncharitable  conduct  toward  a  Christian  brother 
was  not  a  matter  of  indifference — it  was  sin.  Hence 
the  apostle  interferes,  not  by  way  of  counsel,  but  by 
unequivocal  commandment,  strictly  forbidding  the 
strong  to  look  with  disdainful  eye  upon  the  temerity 
of  the  weak,  contemptuously  despising  him  as  the 
victim  of  narrow  prejudice  and  baseless  superstition; 
and  with  equal  strictures  charging  the  weak  not  to 
commit  the  sin  of  censorious  judgment  by  ignorantly 
confounding  liberty  with  license  and  thus  unjustly 
condemning  the  strong  as  libertines  and  heretics, 
unscrupulous  and  irreverent.  In  modern  times  con- 
troversy over  meat  sacrificed  to  idols  is  unknown, 
but  the  principle  still  applies  as  to  instrumental  music, 


526  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

missionary  societies,  etc.  Such  matters  of  indifference 
are  not  to  be  injected  into  the  terms  of  salvation, 
or  set  up  as  tests  of  fellowship.  As  to  them  there  is 
to  be  neither  contempt  on  the  one  part,  nor  judgment 
on  the  other.  Baptism,  however,  is  not  a  matter  of 
indifference,  being  as  much  a  divinely  established 
term  in  the  plan  of  salvation  as  faith  itself  (Mark 
16:16).  "It  is  a  notable  fact,"  observes  Lard,  "that 
the  weak  are  always  more  exacting  and  sensitive  than 
the  strong,  as  well  as  more  ready  than  they  to  press 
their  grievances  to  extremes."  ]  4  Who  art  thou  that 
judgest  the  servant  of  another?  to  his  own  lord  he 
standeth  or  falleth.  Yea,  he  shall  be  made  to  stand; 
for  the  Lord  hath  power  to  make  him  stand.  [We 
must  avoid  the  sacrilegious  presumption  which  con- 
demns where  God  hath  not  condemned.  Whether 
our  brother  in  Christ  stands  in  favor,  so  that  his  daily 
life  and  service  are  accepted  of  God,  or  whether  he 
falls  from  grace,  so  that  his  labors  are  rejected,  is  a 
matter  for  the  Master,  and  does  not  pertain  to  us 
servants.  (Comp.  1  Cor.  10:12;  16:13;  1  Thess. 
3:8;  Rom.  8:33,  34;  11:22.)  A  kindly,  affectionate 
concern  is  commendable,  but  a  censorious  condemna- 
tion is  forbidden.  Moreover,  the  latter  is  useless  and 
idle,  for  it  is  the  duty  of  each  disciple  to  please  his 
Master,  not  his  fellow-servant,  and  the  Master  is  able 
to  justify  and  will  justify  w^ithout  consulting  human 
accusers  (chap.  8:  33),  or  paying  respect  to  man-made 
technicalities  about  indifferent  things.  Christ's  ability 
to  justify  extends  to  even  positive,  inexcusable  sin 
(chap.  3:26;  John  8:  11).  If  we  could  only  learn  that 
the  consciences  of  others,  though  different,  are  as 
active  and  as  exacting  as  our  own,  we  would  judge 
less  and  love  more.  Acting  by  contrary  rule,  if  we 
find  that  any  man's  conscience  varies  from  our  own, 
we  straightway  conclude  that  he  has  no  conscience  at 
all,  and  hence  is  a  proper  subject  for  our  condemna- 
tion, a  culprit  well  within  the  bounds  of  our  jurisdic- 
tion.] 5  One  man  esteemeth  one  day  above  another: 
another  esteemeth  every  day  alike.     [Jewish   Chris- 


MUTUAL   FORBEARANCE  527 

tians  generally  continued  to  reverence  and  observe 
the  sabbath,  new  moons  and  festival  days  commanded 
by  the  law  of  Moses,  but  which  are  no  part  of  the 
Christian  system  (Gal.  4:10;  Col.  2:15,  16);  while 
the  Gentile  Christian  regarded  all  days  as  equally 
holy,  and  to  be  spent  in  the  fear  and  service  of  God.] 
Let  each  man  be  fully  assured  in  his  own  mind. 
[About  indifferent  matters  God  has  given  no  command, 
hence  each  must  follow  his  own  judgment  and  con- 
science, and  none  is  required  to  adjust  his  conduct  to 
satisfy  the  conscience,  much  less  the  scruples  of  an- 
other, though  he  must  show  charity  and  forbearance 
toward  his  brother's  conscience.]  6  He  that  regardeth 
the  day,  regardeth  it  unto  the  Lord:  and  he  that  eat- 
eth,  eateth  unto  the  Lord,  for  he  giveth  God  thanks; 
and  he  that  eateth  not,  unto  the  Lord  he  eateth  not, 
and  giveth  God  thanks.  [The  conduct  of  each  was 
equally  commendable,  as  the  object  of  each  was  the 
same ;  that  is,  to  serve  God.  The  one  who  rested  and 
the  one  who  labored  each  sought  to  please  God  in  his 
act.  One  gave  thanks  for  meat  and  all,  and  the  other 
gave  thanks  for  all,  less  meat.  "This  so  remarkable 
saying  of  the  apostle  furnishes  us,"  says  Godet,  "with 
the  true  means  of  deciding  all  those  questions  of 
casuistry  which  so  often  arise  in  Christian  life,  and 
cause  the  believer  so  much  embarrassment.  May  I 
allow  myself  this  or  that  pleasure?  Yes,  if  I  can 
enjoy  it  to  the  Lord,  and  while  giving  him  thanks 
for  it;  no,  if  I  can  not  receive  it  as  a  gift  from  his 
hand,  and  bless  him  for  it.  This  mode  of  solution 
respects  at  once  the  rights  of  the  Lord  and  those  of 
individual  liberty."  The  passage  indicates  that  grace 
before  meals  was  the  universal  practice  of  Christians 
in  Paul's  day.  It  probably  rested  on  the  habit  of 
Jesus— Luke  9  :  16 ;  22  :  17-19 ;  24 :  30-35.]  7  For  none 
of  us  liveth  to  himself,  and  none  dieth  to  himself.  8 
For  whether  we  live,  we  live  unto  the  Lord;  or 
whether  we  die,  we  die  unto  the  Lord:  whether  we 
live  therefore,  or  die,  we  are  the  Lord's.  [As  we  are 
Christ's  by  right  of  redemption  and  purchase   (Acts 


528  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

20:28;  1  Cor.  6:19,  20;  7:23;  1  Pet.  1:18,  19),  we 
are  not  our  own,  but  the  rights  of  Christ  overshadow 
all  our  individual  rights,  whether  exercised  in  assert- 
ing our  liberty  or  indulging  our  spirit  of  censorious- 
ness.  To  live  to  self  is  forbidden;  we  must  live  with 
a  view  to  our  Lord  and  his  interest  in  others. 
Whether,  therefore,  a  man  regard  any  particular  act, 
food  or  pleasure  as  a  thing  permissible — a  thing 
wherein  he  may,  figuratively  speaking,  live;  or 
whether  he  regards  it  as  an  affair  wherein  he  must 
deny  himself,  and  so,  figuratively,  die,  in  either  case 
he  must  take  more  than  himself  into  account,  for  he 
must  include  the  Lord  and  others.  Comp.  2  Cor.  5 : 
15;  Rom.  12:1;  Phil.  1:21-24;  2  Cor.  5:6-9.]  9  For 
to  this  end  Christ  died  and  lived  again,  that  he  might 
be  Lord  of  both  the  dead  and  the  living.  [We  are 
here  told  to  what  lengths  Christ  went  to  obtain  the 
important  right  to  rule  over  us  in  both  spheres  of 
being,  or  as  literally  living  and  dead.  A  right  so 
dearly  bought  is  not  readily  abandoned,  and,  more- 
over, if  Christ  rules  over  us  in  the  literal,  his  rule 
also,  of  course,  governs  us  in  all  lesser  or  figurative 
realms.  He  became  purchaser  of  us  by  death  (Acts 
20:28),  and  ruler  by  his  resurrection — Acts  2:30- 
36;  17:31;  Rom.  1:4.]  10  But  thou  [O  weak  one], 
why  dost  thou  judge  thy  brother?  or  thou  again  [O 
strong  one],  why  dost  thou  set  at  nought  thy  brother? 
for  we  shall  all  stand  before  the  judgment-seat  of 
God.  [The  fact  that  each  is  so  great  a  sinner  that 
Christ  must  needs  die  for  him,  should  prevent  the 
one  from  judging  and  the  other  from  despising.  Since 
Christ,  having  died,  is  able  to  justify  whom  he  will, 
what  folly  is  it  to  attempt  to  usurp  Christ's  office  so 
as  to  condemn  any  who  trust  in  him  !  The  believer  is 
not  even  judged  of  Christ,  but  is  called  into  judgment 
that  he  may  be  justified— 2  Cor.  5:10;  Rom.  8:33.] 
11  For  it  is  written  [and  hence  was  an  already  estab- 
lished doctrine,  and  not  one  just  now  promulgated  by 
Paul],  As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  to  me  every  knee 
shall  bow,  And  every  tongue  shall  confess  to  God. 


MUTUAL   FORBEARANCE  529 

[The  quotation  gives  the  sense  of  Isa.  45 :  23.  Comp. 
Phil.  2:  10,  11.]  12  So  then  each  one  of  us  shall  give 
account  of  himself  to  God.  [God  judges  all,  hence 
it  is  superfluous  for  the  Christian  to  judge  any.  Why 
gather  stones  of  condemnation  and  judgment  when, 
after  all,  Jesus  renders  us  powerless  to  throw  them? 
(John  8:  7.)  Since,  then,  our  judgments  are  futile  and 
worthless,  affecting  no  one  but  ourselves,  let  us  re- 
frain from  them,  and  cultivate  charity,  remembering 
the  rule  which  metes  unto  us  as  we  measure  to  others 
(Matt.  7:1,  2).  We  should  be  glad  that  we  escape 
the  responsibility  of  judging,  since  Jesus  himself 
expressed  no  eagerness  to  assume  the  burden.  Comp. 
John  5:22,  27,  30,  45;  3:17-19;  8:15,  16;  12:47; 
Luke  12:13,  14.]  13  Let  us  not  therefore  judge  one 
another  any  more:  but  judge  [decide]  ye  this  rather, 
that  no  man  put  a  stumblingblock  in  his  brother's  way, 
or  an  occasion  of  falling.  [This  warning  is  addressed 
both  to  the  weak  and  to  the  strong.  Each  censori- 
ous judgment  tempts  the  strong  to  a  reactionary  and 
excessive  assertion  of  liberty,  and  each  despising  of 
the  weak  tends  to  decrease  his  faith  in  the  power  of 
God  and  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  regenerate 
and  sanctify  men.  Hence  each  is  warned  to  show 
charity,  and  thus  avoid  placing  stumbling-blocks  in 
his  brother's  way.  At  this  point  Paul  ceases  to  ad- 
dress both  parties,  and  turns  his  remarks  exclusively 
to  the  strong,  since  the  weak  have  less  control  over 
their  actions  than  the  strong,  and  hence  are  merci- 
fully spared  the  imposition  of  burdens  too  heavy  for 
their  strength.]  14  I  know,  and  am  persuaded  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  [I  am  convinced  in  my  apostolic  capacity, 
as  enlightened  by  the  Holy  Spirit  sent  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  (John  14:26;  16:13-15).  Paul's  teachings  in 
this  entire  section  are  contrary  to  his  education  and 
prejudice  as  a  Jew.  He  is  speaking  as  one  freed  and 
enlightened  in  Christ],  that  nothing  is  unclean  of  it- 
self: save  that  to  him  who  accounteth  anything  to  be 
unclean,  to  him  it  is  unclean.  [See  Matt.  15:11; 
Mark  7: 18;  Acts  10: 14-28;  1  Tim.  4:4.     In  the  gos- 


530  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

pel  all  ceremonial  uncleanness  is  abolished,  so  that 
no  food  is  any  longer  unclean,  but  if  a  man  acts  con- 
trary to  his  conscience,  he  defiles  it:  hence  food, 
clean  of  itself,  may  work  sad  havoc  in  his  spiritual 
nature  who  eats  contrary  to  his  conscience — 1  Cor. 
8:7-13.]  15  For  if  because  of  meat  thy  brother  is 
grieved,  thou  walkest  no  longer  in  love.  ["For"  looks 
back  to  verse  13.  Recklessness  as  to  the  welfare  or 
safety  of  others  is  not  loving.  "Grieved"  may  express 
either  a  lapse  into  Judaism  on  the  part  of  the  weak 
because  of  the  apparent  worldliness  of  the  strong,  or 
it  may  indicate  that  the  weak,  tempted  by  the  conduct 
of  the  strong,  do  things  which  are  contrary  to  con- 
science, and  hence  come  to  grief  (Matt.  27:3-5).  It 
is  likely  that  the  latter  danger  was  most  prominent  to 
the  apostle's  mind.  (Comp.  v.  20,  and  1  Cor.  8:10.) 
The  context,  containing  the  words  "destroy"  and 
"overthrow"  (v.  20),  shows  that  the  grief  is  more 
than  mere  fraternal  disappointment  at  another's  lax- 
ity.] Destroy  not  with  thy  meat  him  for  whom 
Christ  died.  [This  is  the  strongest  possible  appeal. 
What  pleasure  of  liberty  can  be  so  sweet  as  to  justify 
us  in  destroying  our  brother's  life,  and  frustrating 
the  agony  and  sacrifice  of  the  Master  in  his  behalf? 
Shall  we  set  a  higher  value  on  our  meat  than  Christ 
did  on  his  divine  life?  How  shall  we  look  our  Lord 
in  the  face  if  we  have  wantonly  done  such  a  thing!] 
16  Let  not  then  your  good  be  evil  spoken  of  [Do  not 
so  use  your  liberty — the  good  you  enjoy — as  to  pro- 
voke blame  or  censure,  for  by  so  doing  you  lose  your 
power  to  influence  others  for  good,  whether  they  be 
weak  or  strong.  A  bad  name  has  no  power  in  God's 
kingdom— 1  Tim.  2>\7',  Matt.  5:16;  Acts  22:22]:  17 
for  the  kingdom  of  God  is  not  eating  and  drinking, 
but  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
Spirit.  18  For  he  that  herein  serveth  Christ  is  well- 
pleasing  to  God,  and  approved  of  men.  19  So  then 
let  us  follow  after  things  which  make  for  peace,  and 
things  whereby  we  may  edify  one  another.  [Humanly 
prescribed    and    wholly    external    ordinances    neither 


MUTUAL   FORBEARANCE  531 

usher  us  into  the  kingdom  nor  increase  its  power 
within  us,  nor  does  the  failure  to  observe  them  ex- 
clude us  from  it.  Its  blessings  are  not  linked  to  sump- 
tuary liberties,  but  are  found  in  graces  socially  ap- 
plied; in  righteousness  toward  God;  justice  toward 
our  neighbor;  peace,  or  concord  and  harmony,  with 
all ;  joy,  or  expressions  of  loving  happiness  prompted 
in  us  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  source  of  all  grace :  these 
are  the  things  which  work  the  advance  and  glorifi- 
cation of  the  kingdom  both  within  us  and  about  us. 
These,  then,  are  the  habits  of  life  which  please  both 
God  who  reads  the  heart,  and  man  who  looks  upon 
the  outward  conduct,  and,  moreover,  build  up  the 
kingdom.]  20  Overthrow  not  for  meat's  sake  the 
work  of  God.  All  things  indeed  are  clean;  howbeit 
it  is  evil  for  that  man  who  eateth  with  offence.  21 
It  is  good  not  to  eat  flesh,  nor  to  drink  wine,  nor  to 
do  anything  whereby  thy  brother  stumbleth.  [Do 
not  for  a  trifling  indulgence  destroy  a  man,  the  no- 
blest work  and  likeness  of  God.  Look  not  at  your  act 
alone,  but  consider  also  its  consequences.  True,  in- 
deed, that  your  weak  brother,  in  following  your  ex- 
ample, will  not  be  harmed  by  the  food  itself,  yet  he 
will  surely  do  evil  if  he  offends  his  conscience  in 
eating.  Therefore  your  proper  course  is  abstinence 
that  your  brother  may  not  be  tempted.  Though 
Paul's  reference  is  to  the  contamination  of  the  wine  of 
idolatry,  yet  the  principle  applies  equally  well  to  the 
wine  of  intemperance.]  22  The  faith  which  thou  hast, 
have  thou  to  thyself  before  God.  [The  faith  or  con- 
viction of  liberty  which  thou  hast  need  not  be  aban- 
doned ;  but  it  should  be  held  or  preserved  in  the  heart 
before  God,  and  should  not  be  vauntingly  paraded 
in  the  sight  of  the  weak.]  Happy  is  he  that  judgeth 
not  himself  in  that  which  he  approveth.  23  But  he 
that  doubteth  is  condemned  if  he  eat,  because  he  eat- 
eth not  of  faith ;  and  whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  is  sin. 
[The  apostle  here  presents  the  contrast  between  the 
strong  and  the  weak.  The  former  is  blest  indeed  in 
that  he  has  liberty  without  the  sense  of  inward  dis- 


532  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

approval,  while  the  other,  not  sure  of  his  ground, 
plunges  recklessly  on,  and,  acting  contrary  to  his 
convictions,  and  hence  to  that  respect  and  reverence 
which  is  due  to  God,  sins.  His  eating  is  sinful  be- 
cause not  of  faith  (faith  is  here  used  in  the  abstract 
sense,  and  means  grounded,  undoubting  conviction 
that  God  approves),  for  whatever  is  done  without 
such  settled  conviction  is  sinful  recklessness,  and  must 
not  be  done  at  all,  for  to  act  contrary  to  the  will  of 
God  is  to  destroy  his  work  in  us.  Diakrenesthai, 
translated  "doubteth,"  means  to  be  divided  into  two 
persons,  one  of  whom  says  "yes,"  and  the  other  "no." 
In  the  case  of  the  weak  the  flesh  says  "yes,"  and  con- 
science cries  "no."]  XV.  1.  Now  ["Now"  is  pro- 
gressive; it  means,  "to  proceed  with  the  matter  in 
hand"]  we  [It  is  a  characteristic  of  Paul's  to  identify 
himself  with  those  on  whom  he  lays  especial  bur- 
dens] that  are  strong  ought  [1  Cor.  9:  19-22.  Strength 
in  the  gospel  always  brings  upon  its  owner  the  obli- 
gation and  command  to  serve  (Gal.  6:2),  and  the  one 
who  would  truly  serve  must  eliminate  his  self-conceit 
and  arrogance]  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak, 
and  not  to  please  ourselves.  2  Let  each  one  of  us 
please  his  neighbor  for  that  which  is  good,  unto 
edifying.  3  For  Christ  also  pleased  not  himself 
[The  strong  ought  to  give  way  to  the  weak  because 
strength  can  yield  better  than  weakness,  since  in  so 
doing  it  in  no  way  violates  conscience  and  because 
this  forbearance  tends  to  build  up  the  weak  and  make 
them  strong.  But  this  rule  applies,  of  course,  only  to 
matters  that  are  indifferent;  in  things  that  are  er- 
roneous or  wrong  we  have  no  choice  or  discretion, 
but  must  stand  for  the  right  as  God  would  have  us. 
The  only  objection  that  the  strong  can  urge  against 
yielding  to  the  weak  is  that  to  do  so  involves  them  in 
great  sacrifice.  In  answer  to  this  argument  Paul  sets 
forth  the  example  of  Christ.  How  can  he  that  is 
self-pleasing,  and  that  shrinks  from  sacrifice,  make 
claim  to  be  the  disciple  and  follower  of  the  One  whose 
life  was  the  supreme  self-sacrifice  of  the  annals  of 


MUTUAL   FORBEARANCE  533 

all  time?  Had  Christ  pleased  himself  hell  itself 
might  well  shudder  at  the  consequences]  ;  but,  as  it 
is  written  [Ps.  69:9],  The  reproaches  of  them  that 
reproached  thee  fell  upon  me.  [When  Christ  bore  the 
heavy  burden  of  our  reproaches  and  disgrace — our 
sin,  and  its  consequences — can  we  not,  as  his  dis- 
ciples, cheerfully  bear  each  other's  light  foibles  and 
infirmities?  We  must  not  only  be  unselfishly  fair; 
we  must  be  self-denyingly  generous,  if  we  would  be 
Christlike.]  4  For  whatsoever  things  were  written 
aforetime  were  written  for  our  learning,  that  through 
patience  and  through  comfort  of  the  scriptures  we 
might  have  hope.  5  Now  the  God  of  patience  and  of 
comfort  grant  you  to  be  of  the  same  mind  one  with 
another  according  to  Christ  Jesus  [I  cite  the  Scrip- 
ture as  written  for  the  instruction  of  the  unborn 
church,  for  all  Scripture,  as  it  outlines  what  Christ 
would  do  sacrificially,  also  establishes  what  we  should 
do  as  imitators  of  him.  It  also  affords  us,  in  our 
perusal  of  it,  patience  and  hope  in  the  doing,  for  God, 
the  original  source  back  of  all  Scripture,  will  not  fail 
in  administering  aid  and  comfort  to  you  in  your  effort 
toward  that  spirit  of  unity  and  concord  which  is  ac- 
cording to  Christ ;  i.  e.,  according  to  his  desire,  will, 
commandment  and  example]  :  6  that  with  one  accord 
ye  may  with  one  mouth  glorify  the  God  and  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  [Beautiful  picture!  When 
in  concord  the  whole  church  as  a  harmonious  choir 
renders  praise  to  God,  the  Father  of  our  Lord,  as  one 
mouth !  And  how  this  will  glorify  our  Saviour, 
Christ,  showing  the  perfection  of  his  work  in  us ! 
Unanimity  of  inward  feeling  can  not  but  result  in 
harmony  of  outward  expression,  whether  in  doctrine, 
worship  or  praise.]  7  Wherefore  receive  ye  one  an- 
other, even  as  Christ  also  received  you,  to  the  glory 
of  God.  [Against  the  trifling,  selfish  enjoyment  of 
personal  liberty,  the  apostle  sets  the  supreme  end 
and  joy  of  life ;  viz.,  the  glorification  of  God  (Matt. 
22:36-38;  John  4:34).  As  Christ,  suppressing  all 
selfish    promptings    to    assert    his    own    rights    and 

35 


534  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

liberties,  and  ignoring  all  distinctions  in  his  favor, 
however  pronounced  or  impossible  (Phil.  2:5-8),  re- 
ceived us  in  all  loving  compassion  to  affect  that 
glory ;  so  also  should  we  mutually  receive  one  an- 
other in  full  love  and  fellowship  to  that  end,  exclu- 
ding all  unworthy  selfishness,  and  all  social,  national 
or  racial  antipathies.  Unity  glorifies  God,  as  the 
amity  of  a  household  reflects  honor  on  its  head.]  8 
For  ["for"  introduces  the  explanation  as  to  how 
Christ's  coming  and  ministry  was  for  the  purpose  of 
glorifying  God  by  receiving  each  party,  Jew  or  Gen- 
tile] I  say  that  Christ  hath  been  made  a  minister  of 
the  circumcision  for  the  truth  of  God,  that  he  might 
confirm  the  promises  given  unto  the  fathers,  9  and 
that  the  Gentiles  might  glorify  God  for  his  mercy 
[In  order  that  he  might  vindicate  the  veracity  of  God 
in  confirming  and  in  keeping  the  promises  of  the 
covenant  given  unto  the  fathers,  Abraham,  Isaac 
and  Jacob :  (now  these  covenant  promises  contained 
blessings  for  the  Gentiles — Gen.  22:18;  these  bless- 
ings thus  coming  to  them  through  the  circumcision 
people  and  covenant — John  4 :  22 ;  therefore  Christ 
became  the  minister  of  the  circumcision  for  the  sake  of 
the  Gentiles  also,  that  the  Gentiles  might  also  be 
received)  and  that  they  might  glorify  God  for  his 
mercy.  If  Christ,  then,  the  Lord  and  Master,  was  a 
minister  (Matt.  20:27,  28)  unto  each  for  purposes  of 
unity  and  concord  (Eph.  2:11-22),  with  what  lowly 
humility  should  his  servants  receive  and  serve  each 
other  to  effect  these  results]  ;  as  it  is  written.  There- 
fore will  I  give  praise  unto  thee  among  the  Gentiles, 
And  sing  unto  thy  name.  [*'Sing"  (psalloo)  means, 
literally,  "strike  the  harp  to  thy  name."  This  quota- 
tion argues  that  the  use  of  that  instrument,  as  a 
means  of  divine  praise,  is  innocent  and  permissible.] 
10  And  again  he  saith,  Rejoice,  ye  Gentiles,  with  his 
people.  1 1  And  again,  Praise  the  Lord,  all  ye  Gen* 
tiles;  And  let  all  the  peoples  praise  him.  12  And 
again,  Isaiah  saith,  There  shall  be  the  root  of  Jesse, 
And  he  that  ariseth  to   rule   over  the   Gentiles;    On^ 


MUTUAL   FORBEARANCE  535 

him  shall  the  Gentiles  hope.  [The  quotations  found 
in  verses  9-12  are  presented  to  confirm  Paul's  teach- 
ing that  it  was  God's  original,  eternal  purpose  to 
include  the  Gentiles  in  Israel,  the  passages  forming 
a  parenthesis  elucidating  the  idea  of  verse  7;  viz., 
''even  as  Christ  received  you."  The  first  passage  is 
from  Ps.  18 :  49,  and  introduces  David  as  confessing 
and  praising  as  theocratic  King  under  God  not  apart 
from,  but  among,  the  Gentiles.  In  the  second,  taken 
from  Deut.  32 :  43,  Moses  exhorts  the  Gentiles  to 
rejoice  in  God  together  with  all  his  people,  or  Israel. 
The  third,  from  Ps.  117:1,  repeats  the  thought  of 
the  second;  while  the  last,  from  Isa.  11:10,  is  a 
definite  announcement  of  the  reign  of  Messiah  as 
the  root  of  Jesse,  or  head  of  the  Davidic  dynasty 
(and  hence  Jewish)  over  the  Gentiles  also,  and  that 
not  as  a  foreign  oppressor,  but  as  a  hope-fulfilHng 
native  king.  The  great  prophetic  fact  forecast  in  all 
these  quotations  is  a  coming  day  of  joint  praise  for 
Jew  and  Gentile.  What  a  consolation  and  what  an 
aid  toward  patience  these  Scripture  quotations  must 
have  been  to  Paul,  in  his  work  as  apostle  to  the  Gen- 
tiles !  (See  V.  4.)  The  trend  of  the  argument  toward 
his  apostolic  ministry  forms  a  transition  leading  to 
the  epistolary  conclusion  which  follows  the  benedic- 
tion of  the  thirteenth  verse.]  13  Now  the  God  of 
hope  fill  you  with  all  joy  and  peace  in  believing,  that 
ye  may  abound  in  hope,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  [The  apostle  concludes  the  hortatory  part  of 
his  letter  with  this  solemn  petition  for  his  readers' 
welfare.  Note  what  beautiful  names  for  God  are 
derived  from  the  attributes  which  he  inspires.  "God 
of  hope,"  ''God  of  patience"  (v.  5),  "God  of  peace" — 
V.  2>Z.] 


536  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 


PART  FOURTH. 

EPISTOLARY      CONCLUSION,      CONTAINING 
PLANS,    REQUESTS,    EXPLANATIONS, 
COMMENDATIONS,    SALUTA- 
TIONS,  ETC. 

Rom.  15:14—16:27. 

The  apostle,  having  finished  his  didactic  and 
doctrinal  instruction,  turns  to  renew  the  personal 
tone  with  which  his  letter  opened.  He  presents:  (1) 
An  apology  for  the  liberty  taken  in  so  plainly  admon- 
ishing them,  reminding  them  of  his  office  as  apostle 
to  the  Gentiles  which  laid  such  a  duty  upon  him 
(15:  14-16;  comp.  1:  14,  15).  (2)  An  explanation  con- 
cerning his  labors  and  his  failure  to  visit  them  (15: 
17-24;  comp.  1:11-13).  (3)  A  statement  of  his 
present  and  future  plans,  and  a  request  for  prayer 
(15:25-33).  (4)  Commendations  and  salutations  (16: 
1-24;  comp.  1:7).  (5)  Doxology  (16:25-27;  comp. 
1:1,  2). 

I. 

THE   APOSTLE'S    MINISTRY   AND    PLANS— A 
REQUEST  FOR  PRAYERS. 

15:14-33. 

14  And  I  myself  also  am  persuaded  of  you  [as  to 
you],  my  brethren,  that  ye  yourselves  are  full  of 
goodness,  filled  with  all  knowledge,  able  also  to  ad- 
monish one  another.  [These  Roman  Christians  were 
by  no  means  ''babes  in  Christ,"  yet  even  men,  and 
that  the  best  instructed,  need  apostolic  preaching. 
But  Paul's  confidence  in  their  understanding  is  shown 
in  the  quality  of  this  letter  which  he  wrote  to  them. 


PAULS   MINISTRY   AND    PLANS         537 

Compare  a  contrary  feeling  in  his  letter  to  the  Corin- 
thians (1  Cor.  2:6;  3:1-3),  and  in  milder  form  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (Heb.  6:11,  12).  Moreover, 
the  list  of  names  of  church  leaders  contained  in  this 
epistolary  conclusion  proves  the  efficiency  of  this 
Roman  church,  its  goodness,  and  its  ability  to  impart 
knowledge  and  admonition.]  15  But  I  write  the 
more  boldly  unto  you  in  some  measure,  as  putting 
you  again  in  remembrance  [Thus  suggesting  that  the 
matter  of  his  Epistle  was  not  wholly  new  to  them: 
comp.  2  Pet.  1:12,  13],  because  of  the  grace  [i.  e., 
apostleship :  comp.  1:5;  12:3;  Gal.  2:9;  Eph.  3 : 7- 
11]  that  was  given  me  of  God,  16  that  I  should  be 
a  minister  of  Christ  Jesus  unto  the  Gentiles  [I 
have  not  carefully  weighed  my  words  as  a 
stranger  should,  but  have  used  some  measure  of 
boldness  because  it  is  my  duty  to  so  speak  as  your 
apostle  commissioned  by  God's  grace.  "As  though 
he  said,  T  did  not  snatch  the  honor  for  myself,  nor 
rush  upon  it  first,  but  God  laid  this  upon  me,  and 
that  by  way  of  grace,  not  a  setting  apart  a  worthy 
person  to  this  office.  Be  not  therefore  offended,  for 
it  is  not  I  that  rise  up  against  you,  but  God  that 
has  laid  this  upon  me'" — Chrysostom],  ministering 
[Greek,  "ministering  in  sacrifice."  He  speaks  in 
metaphor,  assuming  to  himself  the  office  of  priest] 
the  gospel  of  God,  that  the  offering  up  of  the  Gen- 
tiles might  be  made  acceptable,  being  sanctified  by 
the  Holy  Spirit.  [Christians  are  nowhere  in  the  New 
Testament  spoken  of  as  literal  priests,  yet  the  idea 
of  priestly  sacrifice  is  forcefully  used  in  a  figurative 
way.  (Comp.  Rom.  12:1;  Phil.  2:17.)  Paul  here 
speaks  of  himself  metaphorically  as  a  priest,  not  of 
the  Levitical  order  with  its  material  temple  and 
tangible  altar,  but  as  pertaining  to  the  gospel  with 
its  spiritual  cleansing  in  Christ.  As  priests  offered 
many  offerings  at  the  great  festivals,  so  Paul,  as 
apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  came  before  God  in  the  festal 
hour  or  time  of  the  glad  tidings  or  the  gospel  of  sal- 
vation, with  the  multitudinous  offering  of  the  myriads 


538  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

of  the  Gentiles.  As  carnal  offerings  were  first 
cleansed  by  water  before  being  offered,  so  these  Gen- 
tiles, as  victims  of  grace,  were  first  made  acceptable 
offerings  by  being  cleansed  by  the  outpouring  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  after  which  they  offered  themselves  as 
daily  sacrifices.  Compare  his  metaphor  to  that  used 
by  Isaiah  in  describing  the  final  gathering  of  Israel 
(Isa.  66:19,  20).  At  Rom.  12:1  the  apostle  began 
by  exhorting  members  of  the  Roman  church  to  offer 
themselves  as  living  sacrifices.  He  then  proceeded  to 
elaborate  the  things  wherein  self-sacrifice  was  de- 
manded of  them.  Now  in  the  verse  before  us  he 
presents  himself  as  a  priest  presiding  officially  over 
their  sacrifice  and  presenting  it  to  God,  which  was, 
figuratively  speaking,  his  duty  as  apostle  to  the 
Gentiles.]  17  I  have  therefore  my  glorying  in 
Christ  Jesus  in  things  pertaining  to  God.  [''There- 
fore" refers  back  to  verse  15.  I  have  therefore  a 
right  to  address  you  boldly  in  things  pertaining  to 
God,  for  I  am  not  contemptible  in  such  matters,  being 
able  to  glory,  not  in  myself,  but  in  reference  to 
Christ  Jesus  in  that  I  am  called  by  him  to  be  his 
apostle.  My  boldness  in  glorying,  therefore,  is  not 
in  myself,  but  in  my  apostleship  and  its  resultant 
spiritual  duties  and  powers.  Compare  2  Cor.  12 :  1- 
13;  Col.  1:25-29.]  18  For  I  will  not  dare  to  speak 
of  any  things  save  those  which  Christ  wrought 
through  me,  for  the  obedience  of  the  Gentiles,  by 
word  and  deed,  19  in  the  power  of  signs  and  won- 
ders, in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  so  that  from 
Jerusalem,  and  round  about  even  unto  Illyricum,  I 
have  fully  preached  the  gospel  of  Chi-ist  [I,  as  I  have 
intimated,  would  not  dare  to  glory  in  anything  that 
I  find  in  myself,  but  I  glory  in  the  manifest  powers 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  both  in  speech  and  miracle  which 
have  been  mine  by  reason  of  my  apostolic  office,  and 
which  have  enabled  me  to  convincingly  preach  the 
gospel,  not  in  any  limited  field,  but  far  and  wide  in 
that  great  curve  of  the  earth  which  begins  at  Jeru- 
salem in  the  east  and  ends  at  Illyricum  in  the  west. 


PAULS   MINISTRY   AND    PLANS         539 

"Chrysostom  observeth,"  says  Trapp,  ''that  Plato  came 
three  times  to  Sicily  to  convert  Dionysius  the  tyrant 
to  philosophy,  and  could  not.  But  Paul  set  a  great 
compass,  converted  many  souls,  planted  many 
churches:  and  why?  Christ  sat  upon  him  as  one  of 
his  w^hite  horses,  and  went  forth  conquering  and  to 
conquer  (Rev.  6:2)."  Paul  began  preaching  at 
Damascus,  but  took  a  second  start  at  Jerusalem 
under  special  commission  to  the  Gentiles  (Acts  9 :  19, 
20,  27-29;  Gal.  1 :  17,  18;  Acts  22:  17-21).  Acts  makes 
no  direct  mention  of  Paul's  labors  in  Illyricum. 
However,  the  Romans  incorporated  Illyricum  as 
part  of  Macedonia,  and  hence  the  journey  thither 
may  be  included  in  the  trip  described  at  Acts  20:1, 
2.  Note  the  calm,  sane  way  in  which  Paul  speaks  of 
his  miraculous  powers  as  a  trust  from  Christ  and  a 
seal  of  his  apostleship,  both  being  mere  accessories 
to  that  all-important  task,  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel]  ;  20  yea  [yes,  so  full  was  the  spiritual  power 
imparted  to  me  that  I  thought  it  an  honor  and  recog- 
nition due  to  my  office  and  to  those  powers  to  use 
them  only  on  the  hard,  unbroken  soil  of  utterly  unen- 
lightened paganism],  making  it  my  aim  so  to  preach 
the  gospel,  not  where  Christ  was  already  named, 
that  I  might  not  build  upon  another  man's  foundation 
[Had  Paul  done  otherwise  he  would  have  used  his 
supreme  powers  as  though  they  were  secondary,  and 
he  would  have  been  choosing  the  easy  tasks,  leaving 
to  others  those  harder  undertakings  for  which  Chrisi; 
was  hourly  fitting  and  equipping  him  (1  Cor.  3:10; 
Eph.  2:20;  2  Cor.  10:12-16).  It  ill  becomes  a  ten- 
talent  man  to  seek  a  one-talent  position.  The  press- 
ing needs  of  the  field  also  forbade  the  waste  of  time 
in  resowing.  Had  Paul's  example  been  followed, 
what  needless  overlapping  of  missionary  efifort  might 
have  been  avoided.  Sectarianism  has  caused  and 
committed  this  sin,  and  it  has  been  especially  repre- 
hensible where  it  has  been  done  to  foster  points  of 
difiference  which  are  matters  of  indifference,  as  is  the 
case  where  factions  of  the  same  sect  compete  in  the 


540  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

same  field]  ;  21  but  [on  the  contrary,  I  preach  as  fol- 
lowing the  program  outlined  by  the  prophet],  as  it 
is  written  [Isa.  52:  15],  They  shall  see,  to  whom  no 
tidings  of  him  came.  And  they  who  have  not  heard 
shall  understand.  [This  verse,  which  speaks  of  the 
original  enlightening  of  the  Gentiles,  might  well  ap- 
peal to  the  one  commissioned  to  be  their  apostle, 
inciting  him  to  be  ever  the  first  to  rush  to  their  re- 
lief.] 22  Wherefore  also  I  was  hindered  these  many 
times  from  coming  to  you:  23  but  now,  having  no 
more  any  place  [territory  where  Christ  is  not  known] 
in  these  regions,  and  having  these  many  years  a  long- 
ing to  come  unto  you  [Because  of  the  many  be- 
nighted places  in  the  unevangelized  east,  I  have 
hitherto  been  held  back  from  visiting  you,  but  now 
the  work  here  being  finished,  leaving  me  free,  I  find 
the  very  principle  which  once  detained  me  in  the  east 
now  impels  me  to  seek  those  of  the  west,  thus  per- 
mitting me  to  visit  you  in  passing  (comp.  chap.  1:11; 
1  Thess.  3:6;  2  Cor.  7:7-11;  Phil.  1:8),  and  I  pur- 
pose to  so  do.  As  Rome  was  a  place  already 
founded  in  Christ,  Paul's  principle  limited  his  stay 
there  to  a  mere  visit,  but  as  it  was  the  center  of  all 
influence  in  his  Gentile  field,  it  was  fitting  that  it 
rest  under  his  instruction.  To  compass  this  instruc- 
tion Paul  wrote  this  Epistle],  24  whensoever  I  go 
unto  Spain  [We  have  no  contemporary  record  stating 
that  Paul  visited  Spain  in  his  lifetime,  but  his  noble 
wish  was  in  large  measure  gratified,  for  he  visited 
Spain  in  later  centuries  by  his  Epistles,  which 
wrought  so  mightily  that  the  Inquisition  could  only 
stamp  out  his  influence  by  stamping  out  all  the 
influenced]  (for  I  hope  to  see  you  in  my  journey, 
and  to  be  brought  on  my  way  thitherward  by  you,  if 
first  in  some  measure  I  shall  have  been  satisfied  with 
your  company)  [''Brought  on;"  proempthenai  means 
primarily  "to  accompany,  to  go  with."  (See  its  use 
at  Acts  15:  3;  20:  38;  21:  5;  1  Cor.  16:6;  2  Cor.  1:16.) 
Paul  thus  delicately  suggests,  but  does  not  deliber- 
ately  ask,   pecuniary   and    other    aid    to    his   journey. 


PAUL'S   MINISTRY   AND    PLANS         541 

He  also  makes  it  plain  that  his  stay  will  be  merely  a 
visit — a  tarrying  to  satisfy  his  hungry  desire  for 
their  fellowship.  But  the  counsels  of  God  decreed 
that  Paul's  stay  should  be  lengthened  greatly  (Acts 
28 :  30)  so  as  to  let  his  influence  over  the  Gentiles 
radiate  from  the  great  Gentile  center,  and  so  as  to 
fully  gratify  his  longings  for  a  fellowship  which 
Avas  as  loyal  and  as  loving  as  any  that  ever  refreshed 
his  soul — Acts  28:14,  15] — 25  but  now,  /  saj^,  I  go 
unto  Jerusalem,  ministering  unto  the  saints.  [Despite 
the  earnestness  of  my  desire  to  see  you  just  at  pres- 
ent, I  can  not  come,  for  duty  calls  me  to  Jerusalem. 
Verses  31  and  32  show  that  Paul  anticipated  danger 
and  trouble  at  Jerusalem,  but  joy  and  rest  at  Rome. 
His  anticipations  were,  however,  partly  mistaken,  for 
he  found  rest  while  a  prisoner  at  Caesarea  perhaps 
more  than  at  Rome  (Acts  24:23).  Thus  it  often 
happens  that  along  the  dark  road  toward  duty  we 
find  the  sunniest  spots  in  life.]  26  For  it  hath  been 
the  good  pleasure  of  Macedonia  and  Achaia  to  make 
a  certain  contribution  for  the  poor  among  the  saints 
that  are  at  Jeursalem.  [It  was  quite  natural  that 
there  should  be  many  Christians  in  Jerusalem,  for 
Palestine  was  filled  with  poor,  and  it  was  to  that 
class  that  the  gospel  was  especially  preached  (Luke 
7 :  22) ,  and  it  was  among  that  class  that  it  was  every- 
where successful  (1  Cor.  1:26-29).  But  it  is  also 
likely  that  these  poor,  being  converted,  lost  their 
employment  because  of  their  faith,  for  such  petty 
persecution  has  been  common  in  all  ages  (Jas.  2: 
4-7;  Gal.  2:10;  1  Pet.  4:15,  16).  But,  unhappily, 
these  cruel  distinctions,  when  made  by  Jews  against 
Jewish  Christians,  did  not  cause  the  latter  to  affiliate 
wath  Gentile  Christians.  On  the  contrary,  Jerusalem 
became  the  center  of  a  vast  and  practically  world- 
wide enmity  cherished  by  Jewish  against  Gentile 
Christians,  by  reason  of  racial  and  educational  preju- 
dice. To  break  down  this  prejudice  and  hatred,  that 
the  partition  wall  might  be  removed  between  Jew 
and  Gentile,  Paul  conceived  the  idea  of  inducing  the 

36 


542  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

Gentile  Christians  to  send  an  offering  to  the  poor 
Jewish  Christians  at  Jerusalem  (1  Cor.  16:1-3), 
hoping  thereby  to  make  each  faction  think  more 
kindly  of  the  other.  In  this  he  partly  succeeded  (2 
Cor.  9:12-15).  The  Bible  accounts  of  this  collection 
lead  us  to  think  that  it  was  quite  large.  See  Acts 
19:21;  24:17;  2  Cor.  8:1-9:15.]  27  Yea,  it  hath 
been  their  good  pleasure  [The  apostle  twice  notes 
the  free-will  or  ''good  pleasure"  nature  of  this  offer- 
ing. It  dropped  as  the  ripe  fruit  of  the  orchard ;  it 
was  not  squeezed  as  cider  in  the  mill]  ;  and  their 
debtors  they  are.  [The  Gentiles  are  indebted  to  the 
Jews,  and  hence  their  offering  is  but  a  proper  expres- 
sion of  gratitude.]  For  if  the  Gentiles  have  been 
made  partakers  of  their  spiritual  things,  they  owe  it 
to  them  also  to  minister  unto  them  in  carnal  things. 
[Salvation  is  from  the  Jews  (John  4:22).  If,  there- 
fore, the  Gentiles  received  eternal  and  heavenly  treas- 
ure from  the  Jews,  how  small  a  matter  was  it  that 
they  make  return  of  temporal  and  earthly  treasure 
to  such  benefactors.  The  Gentile  still  owes  this 
debt  to  the  Jewish  race,  for  of  it  came  the  Christ 
and  the  Scriptures.  The  law  here  announced  might 
well  be  remembered  by  many  rich  congregations  in 
dealing  with  their  ministers  in  questions  of  salary, 
vacations,  etc.  (Comp.  Luke  16:9.)  By  mentioning 
this  offering,  Paul  sowed  good  seed  in  the  heart  of 
the  Roman  church — seed  promising  a  harvest  of 
liberality.]  28  When  therefore  I  have  accomplished 
this,  and  have  sealed  to  them  this  fruit,  I  will  go  on 
by  you  unto  Spain.  [''Seal"  is  a  figurative  expression 
for  "deliver  safely."  Compare  its  use  at  2  Kings  22: 
4,  where  it  is  translated  "sum" ;  i.  e.,  count  out.  Our 
English  word  "consign"  is  a  similar  figure.  Paul 
wished  to  complete  a  good  work  for  them :  to  insure 
to  them  the  benefit  of  a  noble  deed  fully  accom- 
plished.] 29  And  I  know  that,  when  I  come  unto 
you,  I  shall  come  in  the  fulness  of  the  blessing  of 
Christ.  [Paul  had  no  doubt  about  the  favorable 
conditions    in    the    Roman    church,    nor    about    his 


PAULS   MINISTRY   AND    PLANS         543 

kindly  reception  by  the  Christians  at  Rome.  He 
felt  that  they  would  so  receive  him  that  he  would  be 
able  to  greatly  enrich  them  in  instruction  and  in  all 
other  spiritual  blessings.  ^'Beyond  these  blessings," 
says  Lard,  "he  had  nothing  to  bestow,  nor  they 
anything  to  ask."  Far  other  were  his  presentiments 
as  to  Jerusalem,  as  he  immediately  shows  us.  For 
a  like  expectation  of  an  evil  reception,  see  2  Cor. 
1:23;  12:14,  20,  21;  13:1,  2.]  30  Now  I  beseech 
you,  brethren,  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  the 
love  of  the  Spirit,  that  ye  strive  together  with  me 
in  your  prayers  to  God  for  me  [Paul  appeals  to  no 
natural  love  such  as  is  provoked  by  environment, 
propinquity,  social  or  fleshly  ties,  but  to  a  love 
induced  by  the  Spirit  of  God  toward  one  whose 
face  they  had  never  seen.  As  Christ  has  power 
over  you,  and  the  Spirit  prompts  love  within  you, 
pray  with  me  and  for  me.  The  word  ''strive"  sug- 
gests the  force  of  opposing  spiritual  powers  which 
resist  the  accomplishment  of  the  things  prayed  for, 
and  the  necessity  of  ardent  prayer  to  overcome  it. 
The  prayer  was  granted,  but  by  other  means  than 
those  praying  anticipated.  With  Paul  position  raised 
no  presumption :  neither  visions,  revelations,  mirac- 
ulous gifts,  inspiration  nor  apostleship  lifted  him 
above  praying  for  their  prayers.  ''Spiritual  beggary," 
says  Trapp,  "is  the  hardest  and  richest  of  all  trades. 
Learn  with  Paul  to  beg  prayer  with  all  earnestness. 
'Pray  for  me,  I  say ;  pray  for  me,  I  say,'  quoth 
Father  Latimer.  'Pray  for  me,  pray  for  me,  for 
God's  sake  pray  for  me,'  said  blessed  Bradford"]  ;  31 
that  I  may  be  delivered  from  them  that  are  disobe- 
dient in  Judaea,  and  that  my  ministration  [offering] 
which  /  have  for  Jerusalem  may  be  acceptable  to 
the  saints;  32  that  I  may  come  unto  you  in  joy 
through  the  will  of  God,  and  together  with  you  find 
rest.  33  Now  the  God  of  peace  be  with  you  all. 
Amen.  [The  prayer  is  fourfold.  (1)  Personal  safety. 
(2)  A  successful  mission  with  the  offering.  (3) 
Divine   permission   to  reach   Rome.      (4)    Joyful   rest 


544  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

in  Rome.  The  prayer  designates  as  ''saints"  those 
thousands  of  behevers  whose  prejudice  against  Paul 
amounted  to  hatred  (Acts  21:20,  21).  As  to  these 
Paul  asks  prayer  that  they  may  duly  appreciate  the 
offering  which  the  Gentiles  have  made  them,  and 
that  they  may  be  properly  softened  and  broadened 
by  it.  This  prayer,  as  we  have  seen  (v.  26),  was 
answered.  He  describes  as  "disobedient"  those  Jews 
who  were  beyond  all  hope  of  conversion.  Paul  was 
already  filled  with  dark  forebodings  and  painful 
presentiments  as  to  these  latter,  and  like  feelings 
were  soon  expressed  by  others  (see  Acts  20:22,  23; 
21 : 4-14)  ;  yet  God,  who  restrains  the  wrath  of  men 
(Ps.  76:10),  caused  the  very  illwill  of  these  dis- 
obedient to  provide  for  Paul  the  long  rest  at  Csesarea 
and  the  free  journey  to  Rome,  attended  with"  no 
greater  hardship  than  usually  accompanied  his 
travels.  Here,  too,  prayer  was  answered.  He  closes 
with  his  prayer  for  them,  which  is,  as  Lard  remarks, 
**the  sum  of  all  prayers,  the  embodiment  of  all  good 
wishes." 

II. 

COMMENDATION     OF     PHCEBE— SALUTA- 
TIONS—WARNINGS    AGAINST     DIS- 
SENSIONS AND  APOSTASY 
—BENEDICTION. 

16:1-27 

[This  chapter  is  mostly  taken  up  with  salutations 
or  greetings  sent  to  individuals,  groups  of  individuals, 
and  to  small  bodies  of  people  which  met  separately, 
yet  composed  jointly  the  church  at  Rome.  Aquila 
and  Priscilla  are  known  to  us.  The  rest  are  practi- 
cally unknown,  hence  their  names  are  passed  by  us 
without  comment.]  1  I  commend  unto  you  Phoebe 
[It  is  generally  admitted  that  Phoebe  alone  was  the 
bearer  of  this  letter  to  the  Romans.     (Comp.  Col.  4: 


COMMENDATION,  SALUTATIONS,  ETC.  545 

7;  Eph.  6:21.)  Had  there  been  others  with  her, 
they  would  doubtless  have  been  also  commended] 
our  sister  [our  fellow-Christian],  who  is  a  servant 
[Literally,  a  "deaconess."  For  deacons,  see  Acts  6: 
1-6;  Phil.  1:1,  etc.  The  word  "deaconess"  is  found 
only  here;  but  this  single  reference  with  commenda- 
tion stamps  the  office  with  apostolic  sanction  and 
approval,  though  the  attempt  to  revive  the  office  in 
our  modern  churches  has  not  as  yet  met  with  any 
marked  success.  Pliny,  in  his  letter  to  Trajan  (A.  D. 
107-111),  mentions  deaconesses,  saying  that  he  ex- 
torted information  from  ''two  old  women  who  were 
called  miuistrcr."  The  Latin  viinistcr  (feminine, 
ministrce)  is  the  equivalent  of  the  Greek  diakonos,  or 
deacon]  of  the  church  that  is  at  Cenchreae  [This 
city  was  the  port  of  Corinth  on  the  Saronic  Gulf, 
opening  out  to  the  ^^gean  Sea.  It  was  nine  miles 
east  of  Corinth,  and  was  important  because  of  its 
harbor  and  the  great  fortress  which  commanded  the 
isthmus  uniting  northern  and  southern  Greece.  From 
this  port  Paul  sailed  for  Syria  after  his  second  mis- 
sionary journey,  and  may  have  at  that  time  paused 
long  enough  to  sow  the  seed  from  which  the  church 
at  that  point  sprang]  :  2  that  ye  receive  her  in  the 
Lord  [i.  c,  as  Christians  should  receive  a  Christian], 
worthily  of  the  saints,  and  that  ye  assist  her  in 
whatsoever  matter  she  may  have  need  of  you  [what 
Phoebe's  business  was  is  unknown]  :  for  she  herself 
also  hath  been  a  helper  of  many,  and  of  mine  own 
self.  [In  the  Greek  there  is  a  play  upon  words  here: 
"Help  her,  for  she  is  a  helper."  She  probably  helped 
the  apostle  during  his  stay  in  Cenchre?e — Acts  18: 
18.]  3  Salute  Prisca  [The  diminutive  of  this  name 
is  Priscilla.  Compare  Jane  and  Jennie,  Drusa  and 
Drusilla]  and  Aquila  [Paul  met  these  two  at  Corinth 
in  A.  D.  53,  and  thev  sailed  with  him  from  thence 
to  Syria  (Acts  18:1-18;  1  Cor.  16:19).  Again,  two 
years  later  they  were  with  him  at  Ephesus — Acts 
19]  my  fellow- workers  in  Christ  Jesus  [It  is  prob- 
able that  as  he  sent  two  before  him  into  Macedonia 


546  EPISTLE    TO    THE   ROMANS 

(Acts  19:22),  so  these  two  were  now  in  Rome  pre- 
paring the  field  for  his  coming  (comp.  Luke  10:1) 
and  ready  to  aid  him  with  information  as  to  its 
condition  and  needs  and  in  other  ways  when  he  accom- 
pHshed  his  declared  purpose  to  visit  that  metropolis 
(Acts  19:21).  But  Paul's  visit  was  delayed  beyond 
expectation — more  than  two  years  (Acts  24:27). 
Confident  of  their  unchanging  loyalty,  Paul  salutes 
them  first  of  all  and  as  fellow-workers  in  the  present 
tense,  not  as  those  who  ''labored"  in  the  past — comp. 
V.  12],  4  who  for  my  life  laid  down  their  own  necks 
[As  Paul's  chief  danger  lay  in  Ephesus  (1  Cor.  15: 
32),  it  was  evidently  there  that  Aquila  and  Priscilla 
risked  their  lives  for  him,  though  no  specific  account 
is  given  us  of  any  such  service,  or  of  other  dangers 
than  the  great  riot — Acts  19:23-41];  unto  whom 
not  only  I  give  thanks,  but  also  all  the  churches  of 
the  Gentiles  [being  grateful  to  the  pair  for  aiding 
in  saving  so  precious  a  life  as  that  of  their  apostle, 
their  light  in  gospel  truth,  the  bulwark  guarding  their 
liberties  against  Jewish  aggression]  :  5  and  salute 
the  church  that  is  in  their  house.  [That  portion  of 
the  church  that  has  its  usual  place  of  meeting  in  their 
house.  (Comp.  1  Cor.  16:19;  Acts  12:12;  18:7; 
Col.  4:15;  Philem.  2.)  Church  buildings  did  not 
then  exist  in  Rome.]  Salute  Epaenetus  my  beloved, 
who  is  the  firstfruits  of  Asia  unto  Christ.  [Of  Epse- 
netus  and  the  rest  of  these  Christians  nothing  is 
known.  **But  thus  it  is  on  earth,"  as  Lard  remarks. 
"Single  short  sentences  tell  the  story  of  those  who 
have  prepared  its  inhabitants  for  eternal  life,  while 
huge  tomes  are  insufficient  to  record  the  exploits  of 
those  who  have  often  turned  it  into  a  slaughter- 
house." By  "Asia"  Paul  means  proconsular  Asia, 
that  province  in  the  southwest  corner  of  Asia  Minor 
of  which  Ephesus  was  the  capital.]  6  Salute  Mary, 
who  bestowed  much  labor  on  you.  7  Salute  Andro- 
nicus  and  Junias,  my  kinsmen  [my  fellow-countrymen 
— ^Jews — Rom.  9:3],  and  my  fellow-prisoners  [When 
or  where  we   do  not  know.     Scripture   tells   of   four 


COMMENDATION,  SALUTATIONS,  ETC.   SA7 

imprisonments  of  Paul,  but  Clement  of  Rome  enu- 
merates seven.  There  may  have  been  even  more — 2 
Cor.  11:23],  who  are  of  note  among  the  apostles, 
who  also  have  been  in  Christ  before  me.  [Meaning 
that  these  were  converted  to  Christ  before  he  was — ■ 
early  enough  to  be  well  known  to  the  apostles  and 
to  be  honored  by  them  before  that  body  was  scat- 
tered by  persecution,  it  being  slow  to  depart  from 
Jerusalem — Acts  8 :  1 ;  12  :  1-3.]  8  Salute  Ampliatus  my 
beloved  in  the  Lord.  9  Salute  Urbanus  our  fellow- 
worker  in  Christ,  and  Stachys  my  beloved.  10  Salute 
Apelles  the  approved  in  Christ.  Salute  them  that 
are  of  the  household  of  Aristobulus.  [A  Roman 
"household"  included  all  in  service  from  the  noblest 
retainer  to  the  meanest  slave.  This  was  probably 
the  younger  Aristobulus  of  the  Herodian  family.  See 
Jos.  Antt.  20:  1,  2.]  11  Salute  Herodion  my  kinsman. 
Salute  them  of  the  household  of  Narcissus,  that  are 
in  the  Lord.  [This  is  probably  Narcissus  the  rich 
freedman  and  favorite  of  Caesar's,  whose  household 
would  therefore  be  compounded  with  Caesar's. 
(Comp.  Phil.  4:22.)  He  died  A.  D.  54,  or  some 
three  years  before  Paul  wrote  this  Epistle.  For 
references  as  to  Narcissus,  see  Tac.  Ann.  11:29-,  seq.\ 
12:57;  13:1;  Suet.  Claud.  28.  "Bishop  Lightfoot 
argues  very  plausibly  that  most  of  those  here  greeted 
by  Paul  were  Nero's  servants,  once  in  Greece,  especially 
Philippi,  and  now  called  to  Rome,  whence  they  later 
sent  back  greetings  to  Philippi  (Phil  4:22).  An  im- 
perial burial-ground  at  Rome  bears  names  like  most  of 
these,  and  the  parties  there  buried  lived  in  Paul's 
day" — Motile.]  12  Salute  Tryphaena  and  Tryphosa, 
who  labor  in  the  Lord.  Salute  Persis  the  beloved, 
who  labored  much  in  the  Lord.  13  Salute  Rufus  the 
chosen  in  the  Lord,  and  his  mother  and  mine.  [We 
know  nothing  certain  of  these.  Paul  had  evidently 
spent  time  in  the  home  of  Rufus,  and  had  received 
motherly  care  at  that  time,  which  he  now  gracefully 
acknowledges,  reckoning  that  if  the  woman  of  the 
home   was   Rufus'   mother   by   nature,   she   was   also 


548  EPISTLE    TO  ^  THE   ROMANS 

his  by  service  and  affection  (^latt.  19:29).  Possibly 
this  Rufus  may  have  been  Simon's  son  (Mark  15: 
21),  and  Paul  may  have  lived  with  them  while  a 
youthful  student  in  Jerusalem  (Acts  22:3).  The 
tradition  that  Mark  wrote  his  Gospel  while  at  Rome 
adds  to  the  plausibility  that  both  he  and  Paul  refer 
to  the  same  Rufus.]"  14  Salute  Asyncritus,  Phlegon, 
Hermes,  Patrobas,  Hermas,  and  the  brethren  that 
are  with  them.  ["With  them"  indicates  another  sec- 
tion of  the  church  meeting  in  the  homes  of  these 
men.  Comp.  vs.  5,  15.]  15  Salute  Philologus  and 
Julia,  Nereus  and  his  sister,  and  Olympas,  and  all 
the  saints  that  are  with  them.  [These  apostolic  salu- 
tations are  addressed  to  twenty-five  individuals.  Not 
a  large  group  for  one  as  widely  known  as  Paul  in  a 
city  as  large  as  Rome,  yet  when  we  consider  the 
limited  circulation  of  news  and  the  meager  means  of 
communication  afforded  in  that  day,  it  shows  the  deep 
affection  of  the  apostle  that  he  knew  the  whereabouts 
of  so  many  of  his  brethren.  Note  also  the  w^omen 
workers  named  in  this  small  group.  It  w^as  evidently 
only  to  Corinth,  and  not  to  Rome,  that  Paul  wrote, 
"Let  your  women  keep  silence" — 1  Cor.  14 :  34 :  comp. 
Phil.  4 :  3.]  16  Salute  one  another  with  a  holy  kiss. 
[Osculatory  salutation  has  always  been  common  in 
the  East  (2  Sam.  20:9;  Luke  7:45;  Matt.  26:  49). 
It  early  became  an  established  practice  among  the 
Jews,  from  whence  it  passed  to  the  apostolic  church 
(1  Cor.  16:20;  2  Cor.  13:12;  1  Thess.  5:26;  1  Pet. 
5:14).  It  is  still  retained  in  the  Greek  Church,  in 
which  the  men  thus  salute  men,  and  women,  women. 
Paul  is  not  teaching  the  Roman  church  a  new  cus- 
tom, but  is  purifying  an  old  one,  insisting  that  the 
salutation  be  holy  and  void  of  all  such  dissimulation 
as  characterized  the  kiss  of  Judas  (Matt.  26:49). 
His  precept  still  applies  to  all  our  salutations,  no 
matter  w^hat  their  form.]  All  the  churches  of  Christ 
salute  you.  [Having  ended  his  own  salutation.  Paul 
adds  those  of  the  Gentile  churches  which  he  had 
just  b^en  visiting  in  collecting  th^  offering   (ch.   15: 


COMMENDATION,  SALUTATIONS,  ETC.   549 

26).  These  salutations  indicate  that  the  apostle 
talked  much  about  his  letter  before  he  wrote  it. 
Possibly  he  was  drafting  it  as  he  journeyed.  And 
it  also  shows  that  the  church  at  the  great  metropolis, 
the  center  of  government  and  civilization,  was  an 
object  of  interest  and  esteem  to  all.  Comp.  ch.  1 : 8.] 
17  Now  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  mark  them  that 
are  causing  the  divisions  [in  Corinth,  Galatia,  etc.] 
and  occasions  of  stumbling,  contrary  to  the  doctrine 
which  ye  learned  [from  the  brethren  to  whom  I 
have  sent  salutations  and  others  of  their  fellowship] : 
and  turn  away  from  them.  [In  an  unregenerate 
world  the  gospel  produces  division  (Matt.  10:34- 
Z7),  but  these  divisions  are  along  the  cleavage  line 
between  good  and  evil.  We  are  not  responsible  for 
these  divisions ;  nay,  we  would  sin  if  we  shrank  from 
causing  them.  **But,"  says  Lard,  ''where  we,  by  our 
own  errors  of  teaching  or  conduct,  produce  divisions 
among  the  children  of  God,  we  sin  against  Christ. 
Nor  is  it  a  less  offense  to  countenance  or  defend 
divisions,  than  it  is  to  cause  them.  They  must  be 
utterly  disfavored  by  the  Christian.  He  is  not  at 
liberty  even  to  feel  indifferent  toward  them.  He 
must  actively  oppose  them  where  they  exist,  and 
actively  endeavor  to  prevent  them  where  they  do  not 
exist."  It  is  against  division  in  the  church,  then,  that 
Paul  warns  his  readers.  Having  named  and  saluted 
those  whose  doctrine  he  sanctioned  and  approved, 
he  warns  the  church  at  once  to  be  on  the  lookout 
for  any  who  might  oppose  them,  and  seek  to  divide 
the  church  now  united  under  them.  The  opening 
to  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  (written  four  or  five 
years  later)  shows  what  these  heretics  afterwards  did 
at  Rome  (Phil.  1 :  15-18;  3 :  2,  3,  17-19).  Their  appear- 
ance at  Antioch,  in  Galatia  and  at  Corinth  made 
Paul  sure  that  they  would  also  invade  Rome.  Those 
whom  Paul  commended  could,  out  of  their  own 
observation  and  experience,  tell  the  Roman  church 
what  evil  these  pernicious  Judaizers  had  done  (Acts 
15  :  1   seq. ;   Gal.    1 :  6  seq. ;   3  :  1    seq. ;    Col.   2  :  8-23 ;   2 


550  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

Cor.  11:13  scq.).  At  the  time  of  Paul's  writing  the 
orthodox  leaders  appear  to  have  been  able  to  keep 
the  church  in  unity.]  18  For  they  that  are  such 
serve  not  our  Lord  Christ,  but  their  own  belly 
[''Belly"  is  meant  to  express  all  the  appetites  of  the 
carnal  life.  The  heretics  here  referred  to,  being 
mediocre  and  insufhcient  teachers  in  the  true  faith, 
resorted  to  the  artifice  of  stirring  up  factions  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  therefrom  physical  and 
pecuniary  support.  (Comp.  Phil.  3:19.)  Their 
breed  is  not  extinct.  There  are  many  who  shine  as 
heretics  who  would  pass  their  lives  in  obscurity  if 
they  were  orthodox,  and  there  are  also  many  who 
amass  fortunes  preaching  lies  who  would  live  at  a 
poor,  starving  rate  if  they  preached  the  truth.  But 
nothing  better  can  be  expected  of  the  devotees  of 
the  belly]  ;  and  by  their  smooth  and  fair  speech  they 
beguile  the  hearts  of  the  innocent.  [They  succeeded, 
not  by  the  inherent  power  of  what  they  taught,  but 
by  the  insidious  manner  in  which  they  taught  it. 
"Truth,"  says  Trapp,  "persuadeth  by  teaching,  it  doth 
not  teach  by  persuading."  It  has  always  been  a 
characteristic  of  truth  that  it  comes  to  us  in  plain 
and  simple  garb,  rugged,  unadorned  (Matt.  11:20; 
Acts  4:13;  1  Cor.  1:21-31;  2:1-16;  2  Cor.  3:12,  13; 
10:10;  11:6;  Jas.  3:17),  and  its  rival,  error,  sits  in 
the  seat  of  the  mighty,  speaks  with  all  subtilty  and 
charms  with  rhetoric  and  oratorical  display — Acts 
8:9;  13:10;  12:21-23;  1  Cor.  8:1,  2;  1  Tim.  6:3-5; 
2  Tim.  Z\7,  8.]  19  For  your  obedience  is  come 
abroad  unto  all  men.  I  rejoice  therefore  over  you: 
but  I  would  have  you  wise  unto  that  which  is  good, 
and  simple  unto  that  which  is  evil.  [I  warn  you, 
for  your  obedience  and  docility,  being  so  notorious, 
will  sooner  or  later  draw  them  to  seek  you  as  an 
enticing  spoil.  The  apostle  rejoiced  in  their  sim- 
plicity, yet  urges  them  to  be  careful  in  whom  they 
placed  their  trust.  (Comp.  Matt.  10:16;  John  10: 
4,  5;  1  Cor.  14:20;  2  Cor.  11:3.)  If  the  church 
could  only  attain  the  paradoxical  state  of  being  sim- 


COMMENDATION,  SALUTATIONS,  ETC.   551 

pie  toward  Christ,  and  wise  toward  those  who  pervert 
his  word,  sectarianism,  with  its  divisions,  would  be 
at  an  end.]  20  And  the  God  of  peace  shall  bruise 
Satan  under  your  feet  shortly.  [Bruise  is  equivalent 
to  ^^crush."  (See  Gen.  3:15;  2  Cor.  11:12-15.)  If 
the  Roman  Christians  hearkened  to  the  apostle  as  to 
these  open,  material,  visible  enemies,  they  would 
quickly  gain  a  victory  over  the  supreme  spiritual 
and  invisible  leader  who  inspired  them.  Thus  the 
God  of  peace  (not  of  division)  would  triumph  over 
the  prince  of  all  strife.  Life's  battle  is  brief,  and 
the  Christian  soldier  who  is  steadfast  soon  gains  the 
victory  and  is  honorably  discharged.]  The  grace  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you.  [The  apostle 
ends  the  personal  section  of  his  salutations  with  a 
blessing,  after  which  he  presents  in  another  division 
the  salutations  of  other  friends.]  21  Timothy  [Acts 
16:  1-4;  2  Cor.  1 :  1,  and  Epistles  to  Timothy]  my  fel- 
low-worker saluteth  you;  and  Lucius  [Acts  13:  1  (?)] 
and  Jason  [Acts  17:5,  6,  7,  9  (?)]  and  Sosipater 
[Acts  20:4  (?)],  my  kinsmen.  [If  Paul's  colaborers 
were  known  personally  to  churches  to  which  he 
addressed  Epistles,  he  evidently  inserted  their  names 
with   his   own   at   the   beginning  of   the   Epistle    (see 

1  and  2  Corinthians,  Philippians,  Colossians,  1  and  2 
Thessalonians)  ;  but  where  they  were  only  known 
by  reputation,  he  appears  to  have  merely  subjoined 
their  salutations  as  he  has  done  here.]  22  I  Tertius, 
who  write  the  epistle,  salute  you  in  the  Lord.  [Paul 
habitually   used   amanuenses    (Gal.   6:11;   Col.   4:18; 

2  Thess.  3:17).  Tertius,  the  penman  of  this  Epistle, 
and  known  to  us  only  here,  shows  to  us  by  his 
salutation  that  he  was  no  mere  hireling  in  this  serv- 
ice.] 23  Gaius  my  host,  and  of  the  whole  church, 
saluteth  you.  [Very  likely  the  Gaius  of  1  Cor.  1 :  14. 
The    name    is    found    elsewhere    (Acts    19:29;   20:4; 

3  John  1).  This  Gaius  evidently  entertained  Paul 
at  the  time  the  Epistle  was  written,  and  at  least 
occasionally,  probably  to  hear  Paul  preach,  the  many 
sections  of  the  entire   Corinthian   church   met  at   his 


552  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

house.  It  must  have  been  a  capacious  home — Acts 
18:8-11.]  Erastus  [possibly  the  person  mentioned 
at  Acts  19:22  and  2  Tim.  4:20]  the  treasurer  of  the 
city  saluteth  you,  and  Quartus  the  brother.  [Here 
end  the  salutations,  and  there  follows  the  most  con- 
densed yet  most  comprehensive  benediction  ever 
penned.]  25  Now  to  him  that  is  able  to  establish 
you  [i.  e.,  to  the  one  who  has  given  you  an  eternal 
foundation  for  your  life  (Matt.  7:24-27)  and  is  able 
to  build  you  as  enduring  material  thereon  (1  Cor. 
3:10-17).  Comp.  ch.  1:11]  according  to  my  gospel 
and  the  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ  [Establish  you  ac- 
cording to,  or  in  conformity  with,  the  terms,  con- 
ditions, means,  grace  and  power  found  in  that  gospel 
which  was  revealed  to  me  personally  (Rom.  2:16; 
Gal.  1:11-17),  even  the  heavenly  truth  contained  in 
the  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  core  and 
heart  of  that  gospel.  (Comp.  ch.  1:3;  2:16;  10:8- 
12 ;  Gal.  1 : 6-8.)  Paul's  gospel  did  not  differ  from 
that  committed  to  the  twelve,  but  he  calls  it  spe- 
cifically '*my  gospel"  because  it  was  delivered  to 
him  in  lessons  where  he  was  the  sole  pupil  (Gal.  1 : 
12),  and  because  his  spiritual  discernment,  coupled 
with  his  special  commission  as  apostle  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, enabled  him  to  see  clearly  two  things  in  the 
gospel  which  were  but  faintly  comprehended  by  the 
others ;  viz.,  that  gospel  salvation  is  wholly  gratuitous 
and  is  not  partly  gratuitous  and  partly  a  matter  of 
purchase  by  obedience  to  the  Mosaic  law  (Gal.  5:1- 
12)  ;  that  it  is  universal  to  all  who  are  obedient  unto 
the  faith,  and  is  in  no  sense  confined  to  the  Jews  or 
their  proselytes — Gal.  3:26-29],  according  to  the 
revelation  of  the  mystery  which  hath  been  kept  in 
silence  through  times  eternal  [Establish  you  by  the 
gospel  and  preaching  which  accords  with  or  is  true 
to  the  revelation  or  unveiling  of  the  great  mystery 
or  secret ;  i.  e.,  the  divine  purpose  of  God  to  save  the 
world  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  Son — a  secret  of  times 
eternal  (2  Tim.  1:9;  Tit.  1:2),  known  only  to  the 
Father,   and   therefore   capable   of   no   revelation    till 


COMMENDATION,  SALUTATIONS,  ETC.  553 

his  voice  broke  silence  as  to  it.  Comp.  Matt.  24:36; 
Mark  13:32;  1  Pet.  1:12;  Acts  1:7],  26  but  now  is 
manifested,  and  by  the  scriptures  of  the  prophets, 
according  to  the  commandment  of  the  eternal  God, 
is  made  known  unto  all  the  nations  unto  obedience 
of  faith  [Comp.  Col.  1:26;  4:4;  Gal.  1 :  12,  16;  1  Cor. 
2 :  10.  "Manifested  .  .  .  made  known."  These  two 
words  express  the  two  phases  of  revelation.  Christ 
himself  was  the  manifestation  (Luke  2:30-32;  John 
1:14-18;  2:11;  Heb.  1:3),  the  Light  of  the  world 
(John  1 : 4-9 ;  John  8 :  12)  ;  but  this  manifestation  is 
introduced,  interpreted,  explained,  "made  known"  by 
the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
writers  or  prophets,  the  former  with  their  types, 
shadows  and  forecasts  (Luke  24:25-27;  Gal.  4:21- 
31;  Col.  2:16,  17;  Heb.  8:5;  9:9;  10:1-9),  the  latter 
with  their  gospel  sermons  and  doctrinal  epistles  (1 
Cor.  15:1;  Gal.  1:11;  1  John  1:1-3).  And  these 
Scriptures  were  written  for  that  purpose,  not  at  the 
motion,  option  or  choice  of  the  writers,  but  by 
order  and  command  of  God  himself  (Deut.  5:22;  Jer. 
36:27,  28;  2  Pet.  1:20,  21;  1  Cor.  2:  13;  2  Tim.  3:  16), 
that  men  might  know,  and,  knowing,  might  believe 
and  obey,  the  gospel  in  its  conditions  and  be  saved 
thereby.  Thus  the  apostle  assures  us  that  the 
Father,  who  gave  us  the  Christ,  gave  us  also  correct 
biographies  as  to  his  incarnation,  miracles,  life,  death, 
resurrection  and  coronation ;  that  the  God  who  gave 
us  a  gospel  also  insured  to  us  the  preservation  of  it 
in  an  efficient  and  effective  form  in  the  record  which 
he  commanded;  that  the  Lord  who  gave  us  a  church 
has  also  provided  for  the  perpetual  safeguarding  of 
its  plans,  specifications  and  model  as  designed  in  his 
holy  mountain  (Heb.  8:5),  preserving  them  forever 
in  those  Chronicles  of  his  kingdom  which  we  call 
the  Bible.  Common  sense  should  tell  us  this,  even 
if  Paul  had  kept  silence.  How  could  we  attribute 
infinite  wisdom  to  a  God  who  sacrificed  his  Son  to 
make  a  gospel  and  then  neglected  to  preserve  that 
gospel   that   it   might   be   used   for   the   purposes   for 


554  EPISTLE    TO    THE    ROMANS 

which  it  was  prepared  at  so  much  cost?  ^loreover, 
this  passage  shows  that  God  himself,  back  of  the 
human  penman,  wrote  the  Bible;  for  he,  and  not 
they — no,  not  even  the  angels  (1  Pet.  1  :  10,  12) — 
knew  the  secret  which  these  Scriptures  were  reveal- 
ing. Yea,  he  wrote  it  for  thie  universal  instruction 
of  the  unborn  church  in  matters  which  no  human 
wisdom  could  discover  for  itself.  Therefore,  whoso 
strikes  at  the  Old  Testament  would  destroy  the 
foundation  of  the  New,  would  annul  what  God  has 
commanded,  obliterate  wdiat  God  has  revealed,  and 
rob  the  dying  world  of  the  gospel,  the  salvation  and 
the  Christ  which  God  has  given.  The  one  who 
attempts  to  do  this  thing  (God  be  praised,  he  can 
not  succeed  save  for  a  brief  season — Rev.  11:3-12) 
would  destroy  God's  means  of  life,  and  would  leave 
the  world,  "all  nations,''  with  their  teeming  but 
helpless  millions  to  perish  without  hope,  setting  his 
wisdom  against  that  of  "the  only  Wise."  Such  an 
one  rivals  the  devil,  both  in  unfeeling  heartlessness 
and  in  supreme  presumption]  :  27  to  the  only  wise 
God,  through  Jesus  Christ,  to  whom  be  the  glory  for 
ever.  Amen.  [Owing  to  difference  in  Greek  and 
English  construction,  the  long  sentence  beginning 
with  verse  25  is  grammatically  incomplete  as  ren- 
dered in  English.  If,  however,  the  "to  whom"  of  the 
last  phrase  be  changed  to  read  "to  him,"  the  sense 
is  complete  and  plain.  "To  him  that  is  able  ...  to 
him  be  the  glory."  The  whole  passage,  then,  is  an 
ascription  of  praise,  with  reasons  for  it  injected  in 
the  form  of  a  parenthesis.  It  is  an  implied  prayer 
for  the  safety  of  the  Roman  church  expressed  in  the 
form  of  a  burst  of  confident  praise  to  him  in  whom 
that  safety  lay.  Of  this  benediction  GifTord  thus 
writes :  "Comparing  it  with  the  introduction  in 
chapter  1,  we  find  in  both  the  same  fundamental 
thoughts  of  the  Epistle :  'the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation'  (1:16),  the  gospel  entrusted  to  Paul  for 
the  Gentiles  (1:5),  the  testimony  of  the  prophets 
(1:2),  the  'obedience  of  the  faith'   (1:5),  the  accept- 


COMMENDATION,  SALUTATIONS,  ETC.  555 

ance  of  all  nations  (1:5,  14-16)— all  these  thoughts 
are  here  gathered  up  into  one  harmonious  burst  of 
'wonder,  love  and  praise.'  "  Thus  the  conclusion  of 
the  Epistle  swings  back  to  the  beginning,  so  that 
the  whole  instruction  assumes  the  form  of  the  circle, 
symbol  of  its  divine  perfection,  its  unending 
authority, 


DATE  DUE 


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G'^YLORD    ,^^^^^r7;-;r. 


in  USA 


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